HCG Update

Seriously??? it's been more than two weeks since I posted? Wow. It felt so refreshing to hit "new post" today!

Sorry I've been so MIA. Is there anyone out there who still cares? Big Daddy told me I've probably lost all my readership by now. I hope not! Anyway, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm not constantly drowning in boxes and unpacking and cleaning and all that. I still have a lot to do around here, but hopefully this will be the beginning to me getting back to normal posting.

One of my friends emailed me recently to ask how things have been post-HCG. Have I maintained my weight? Am I still eating right? So I thought I'd post my answer to her in case anyone out there, all two of you, might also be wondering the same thing. I know one of the biggest criticisms of the HCG diet is the results' longevity. So, to answer her questions:

Yes, I've done well. In fact, I'm 2 lbs lower now than I was at the end of HCG. I did the HCG maintenance phase pretty strictly for about a week or two. You're supposed to do it for four weeks, but I couldn't go w/o carbs any longer. But I was very careful to still eat small portions of carbs and little sugar for the rest of the maintenance phase. But the big thing for me was that after I went back to "normal eating" or at least not the HCG diet, I still followed a pretty moderate eating plan and exercised regularly. I think a lot of people coming off this diet, and most diets, go overboard in their eating 'cause they have felt deprived for so long. I think that's why most people gain their weight back--they go back to eating the way they did before. But I was on a pretty reasonable diet/exercise plan for 9 months before HCG, so I just went back to that. Basically, I still exercised 3-4x a week, and I tried to avoid big portions, fatty food, and sweets. But I didn't completely keep myself away from them. I just tried to be moderate. That, plus the exercise, let me keep the weight to within 1 1/2 lbs of my last HCG weight. Then when I was getting ready to move a couple weeks ago, I was doing so much physical labor all day that I lost 4 more lbs. I've gained back 1 1/2 of those since settling in, which puts me 2 lbs below my HCG weight.

Does that more than answer your question?! LOL Anyway, if you're wondering if it's worth it, YES. If you have a hard time losing weight, no diet will help faster. BUT it's a very hard diet to do. You really have to be committed to it. And I would also say if you have a hard time maintaining your weight on a regular basis, don't do this diet. But if you find that maintaining isn't an issue for you, it's just losing weight, just getting over that hump you're always hovering at, I think this is a really good diet. You just have to be sure to go back to your eat right/exercise routine after the diet.

I guess in summary I think it's a sad fact of being our age that you can never live the lifestyle of indulgent eating + being mostly sedentary. If you want to lose weight, the HCG diet can help you--fast. But if you want to stay there, you're going to have to work at it for the rest of your life. You can learn to eat less or learn to be more active, or both. But no matter what diet you do, you can't go back to living the way you did before you lost the weight or you will gain it back.

But I'll also say this: I'm a LOT more motivated to watch my eating and exercise now that I feel really good about my body than I did when I was 15 or 30 lbs heavier. I am so determined not to get back to that old fat me.




Well, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Anything else anyone wants to ask about HCG? (And for those of you that are sicker than hell of hearing about my stupid diet, this will be the last time, promise!)