+1! It's just simple math.

haha I can do math, but weight loss eludes me...

I know, I can't lose weight to save my life...no pun intended.

HCG can make you feel full...and bloated. Add that to a diet of 600-800 calories per day, and anyone can drop lbs. Ever notice that most of these clinics are run by cardiologists?????

Well, I have been on the HCG protocol since May, and have dropped 45 pounds. First round I did through a clinic, the last rounds I've done on my own (a ton cheaper.) I'm not hungry at all, I feel better than I have in forever, and I look fantastic. I have lost FAT. You would be amazed at my before and afters. That beautiful ring you see in my avatar? It's a size 7 3/4. I now wear a size 6.5 and have to get it resized.

I just started my third and (hopefully) last round last week. Before you judge it, you have to read Dr. Simeone's "Pounds & Inches". It explains everything in pretty simple terms. You can also go to http://www.happilythinnerafter.com which is a forum dedicated solely to the HCG protocol.

It DOES work, and safely. Weight loss isn't as simple as less in and exercise = weight loss. Wish it was, but it isn't. I dieted and exercised with a personal trainer for a year and a half, and didn't lose a SINGLE pound. Started HCG, and immediately started losing.

Check out my HCG weight loss blog, if you like. I'm happy to answer any questions (and no, I'm not selling anything )

http://hcgprotocoljourney.blogspot.com/

Emily, I am sure; absolutely certain that there are some people who may have a medical reason for difficulty in losing weight. Perhaps this has worked for you, but are you dieting? I am sure that you are burning more than you are getting in intake. It is simply beyond physics that a person could burn more than intake and not lose weight; it is phsyically impossible. The balance has to be off; and if eating is right; burning must be off somehow. Barring medical problems (and who knows what could happen with us biological-environmentally); it would be like saying I drop something, but it never falls to the floor. There just has to be something inbetween; and I know medical or chemical factors are so darned hard to isolate.

If I weight 160 and lose 20 pounds, I am going to weigh 140; right? If a chemically healthy person takes in 1000 calories and burns 1200 a day; and they are not losing weight; then they must still weigh 160 after losing 20lbs.

Many of us have either a burning calories issue (i.e. chemical problem) or sadly, plain and simply an eating problem. If it worked for us to get there, the reverse should work for most of us.

I lost 70lbs; and I am back to needing to lose about 12lbs; so best of luck to all of us! For me, it is definatley an eating problem and lack of physical exercise.

See, we're talking apples and oranges here.

The HCG allows my brain to say "Hey! You know what? Go ahead and start burning all that fat you have stored for energy - you don't need to worry about getting energy from what you eat, we have it all right here already!"

Currently my Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1,494 (I'll round it up to an even 1,500 calories.) That means, if I laid in bed all day without moving an inch, 1,500 calories is what my body burns just to stay alive. Adding to that my regular daily activity means that my body is very efficiently burning AT LEAST 1,500 calories per day from my fat stores, and in reality burning a few THOUSAND calories per day. Since I'm only taking in 500 calories in food during protocol, my body is primarily using my fat for energy. One pound is about 3,500 calories. And, that is reflected in the weight loss I experience every single day, more or less. About .5 to 1 pound (or more) every day. Of FAT. HCG is an amazing hormone.



That's what you would assume, but that's not how the brain, the hypothalmus, specifically, works. Very simply, an abnormally functioning endocrine system will tell the body to abnormally store fat in varying degrees, regardless of how much they eat. HCG allows the brain to tell the body to access those fat stores, and then be RESET to a normal function, so that your body doesn't store fat abnormally anymore.

Unfortunately, when one does a traditional calorie-restricted diet, you are first losing your GOOD fat stores - your structural fat - before ever touching your saddlebags. You basically have to starve yourself and all your normal, good fat off (about 25 pounds worth) before it burns off anything else. There is no WONDER that there is such a rebound rate for traditional dieters. It is simply too hard to be in starvation mode for a prolonged period of time, and then your body wants to hold on to whatever amount of calories you're taking in, to protect itself from starvation. It's a vicious cycle.

HCG allows your body to bypass burning your good fat stores first, and immediately start burning your abnormal fat stores instead. That's why people who do the HCG protocol don't get that hollow look about the face and neck that traditional dieters might, due to the loss of normal, structural fat.

I regularly test my urine with ketone testing strips to make sure that my body is in ketosis and burning high amounts of fat for energy. The test strip instantly turns darkest purple, meaning that my body is burning lots of fat and throwing out high levels of ketones in my urine.

Since yesterday I've lost another 1.6 pounds. I can actually see myself shrinking from week to week. I expect to finish losing the last 25 pounds (75 pounds total) by the end of November.

Honestly, I find that explaining the HCG protocol to a doubter is like explaining how amazing Ashas are to a diamond snob. You just won't fully grasp it unless you read the "Pounds & Inches" manuscript by Dr. Simeone.

BTW, I wouldn't give HCG to my worst enemy either!! hehe

Now, I'm fascinated...

Ha, I am too, and I'm scared of it b/c of the hormones. I'm hormonal enough, so I wonder what it does to your body to introduce more?? My husband and I were talking about it again the other day, saying we *want* to try it, but...we're wusses I guess. He knows a guy at work that's on it and loves it.

Well, let me tell you, I was very scared to start it because I was sick every single day of my pregnancy, for the entire 9 months. I'm talking hyperemesis with vomiting up to 10 times day. On the HCG protocol I haven't had a single instance of nausea, and the only thing I had during the beginning of my very first round, was headaches and a feeling of "spaciness" due to detoxing, for about a week. After that, it's been smooth sailing. I don't generally hear of people having mood swings, or things like that, outside of normal PMS-y stuff.

Just think, you're taking only 125 ml of HCG daily during the protocol (I take 150 ml via subcutaneous injection). During pregnancy you have thousands of times that amount circulating throughout your body. For fertility treatments the amounts are also many times the amount one would take during protocol, and no one frowns upon that. Did you know that HCG is regularly given to HIV patients to help protect them from muscle loss?

HCG is a hormone that is in regular use for "on-label" for fertility treatment. It is used "off-label" for safe and effective weight loss - IF you follow the protocol. I can't stress this enough. You must follow the protocol. You can't cheat on this and not see an immediate effect, either in terms of a stall in loss or an actual gain.

What is wonderful is that I know it's only for a specific amount of time. The injection and low-calorie diet period of the protocol lasts for a minimum of 23 days, and a maximum of about 40 days (I usually do 45 days.) Then there is a 3 week phase where the diet changes, and your hypothalmus is being reset. It is easily achievable when you know there is an end-point and you won't be restricted for the rest of your life!