Tag Archives | hcg

HCG…Different but the Same

By on November 9, 2010 in eating, emotional stuff, hcg, R2P3

I’ve been mulling over some thoughts on the HCG Protocol for a while; thoughts that are less about the mechanics of the Protocol, and more about how people approach it.  I have a good friend who’s on it and I know a few other people who know others who are on it.  So within two degrees of separation, I’m hearing reports of how people are doing, and what they’re doing while on HCG, from about a half-dozen peeps on the Protocol.

I also got an e-mail from a blog reader who has a friend who was extremely successful on the Protocol, but who has since gained all of her weight lost back again (and guess what? I’m sure it brought friends.  Cuz it always does, dammit.)  Of course, then I read an article like this one, which cites the extremely high maintenance rate of those who lose using HCG (60-70%) over those who lose using other methods (10% or less).  And I’m left to wonder, as many of you may be, what is the truth?

What is the “best” way to lose weight?
Is HCG the “magic bullet” that we’ve been waiting for?

You already know my answer to that; at least, if you’ve followed my blog for any length of time or know me personally at all, you do.  Of course it’s not a “magic bullet.” As Oprah has said, if a magic cure for obesity/overweight existed, believe me when I tell you I’d have found it by now!  And used it!  No matter the cost!  (Okay, that’s not really true, but it makes for pretty good reading, doesn’t it??)

The bottom line is that like all other diets (yes, I hate that word too, please don’t blast me for using it in this context), HCG is simply a tool to take off excess weight.  It does a little bit extra for many of us, in that it also allows your body to reset the hypothalamus.  Whassat you say??  In layman’s terms (cuz that’s what I am people – a layman…or woman…but laywoman doesn’t sound entirely…appropriate…but I digress): using the HCG Protocol allows your body to (a) shed excess weight that it may have been resistant to shedding before and (b) fix some of the damage we’ve done to our bodies (or some pre-existing dysfunction) with yo-yo dieting by resetting it’s “set point.”  (“The set-point theory essentially argues that an individual’s metabolism will adjust itself to maintain a weight at which it is comfortable.” Click here for source & to read more.)

So, yeah, it makes sense then, if you believe that HCG operates in this way, that maintaining weight loss is slightly “easier” for those who use HCG as their tool.  But that does not mean that maintenance is easy; that you can eat whatever you want and not gain weight.  Maintenance is a life-long work that we all have to participate in. It will look different for each of us.  But there are common threads: commitment to eating healthy.  Balance/moderation/harmony in how we approach food and exercise.  Mindfulness.  And yes, that dreaded word…WORK.

I’m very frustrated when I hear of people who think HCG is a magic cure-all or easy fix; who don’t follow the Protocol and then bitch (sorry, I’m not sorry) about not losing weight.  Or whine about not keeping the weight off.  Who think that this is the magic pill we’ve all been dreaming of our whole lives.  That pill doesn’t exist, friends. And guess what?  One way in which the Protocol is exactly like other diets is that if you don’t follow the “rules,” it won’t work for you in the long run.*

Think about it.  Calorie counters?  If you throw counting to the wind and/or ignore what your calorie range should be for weight loss (or maintenance), how long will you continue losing/maintaining?  Weight Watchers; if you ignore your points range and just eat what you want, what happens?  South Beachers, if you start sneaking too many simple carbs into your plan, how well does that work for you?  Whatever your program or diet or tool or whatever of choice, it likely only works if you actually…you know…follow it.

By the same token, if you ignore the Protocol; cheat while on Phase 2; eat like a madwoman once you’re back to “normal” eating (I never say I’m going back to my old “normal” eating habits – I’m moving on to healthy eating habits!); sneak a drink (or three) at a party while you’re on the low-calorie phase of the Protocol…one of three things will happen:

(1) You will not lose weight;
(2) You will gain weight; or
(3)You will lose weight, think you dodged the bullet, and at some point in the future (probably when you’re trying to stabilize at your new, lower weight) it will come back to bite you in the ass.

Just as with anything else in life, our decisions and our actions have consequences.  Don’t pretend that just because your weight loss tool of choice is HCG, that rule of the universe does not apply to you.  No matter what tool you are using to lose excess weight, know that you still have to do the work.  The physical work.  Following the plan.  Also, the mental/emotional work that will allow you exist in a healthy-weight body without freaking out every time you look in the mirror because you feel like you’re seeing a stranger.

You gotta do the work, people.  Bottom line.

Thoughts?  I’d love to hear what y’all think about this stuff.

*This post is not intended to bash anyone who is struggling to follow-through, whether you’re on HCG or WW or PCP…oops, I mean, you know what I mean.  I get that it is hard sometimes.  Hell, I spent the better part of two decades struggling, doing well, stumbling, falling on my face, and getting back up again.  This post isn’t about the struggle.  This post is about trying to “game the system” and being pissed off when that doesn’t work.

Comments { 4 }

Pounds and Inches Update

By on November 5, 2010 in beauty/beautiful, body, eating, emotional stuff, hcg, hope/inspiration, R2P2, self-image, weight

I started to add this update to yesterday’s post, and then realized it really deserved its own separate post.  Big changes are happening around here, which you’ll understand as you keep reading.

Today is my last day of injecting on my second round of the HCG Protocol.  I am thankful to report that the weight I had gained during my little “interruption” of this round is long gone, along with a few extra pounds.  Today I weigh 189.5 pounds. People, that is momentous!  I honestly don’t remember the last time I was under 190, but I do know it was at least as far back as my junior year in high school.  I feel fantastic and am so excited to start my maintenance phase and keep focusing on my running, strength training, and overall health and wellness.

For those of you who are interested in an outside perspective/opinion on the Protocol, here’s an article on HCG by a thyroid patient advocate – a friend of mine shared this with me.  Let me know what you think!  I’ll be sharing some more in-depth thoughts with you in the near future about this Protocol and how it’s different – but in some ways exactly the same – as any other method of losing weight.

I’ve been promising to share measurements with you for a while, so here is the chart I’ve been using since I started.  It’s hard to see but if you click on the image it gets bigger!

I’ve lost a total of 32.5 inches off all the parts of my body that I’m tracking!  (Note: I only measure one side of my body, so right thigh, right bicep, etc.)  And with today’s weight of 189.5, I’m up to a total of 63 pounds lost on HCG, and a grand total of 109.1 pounds lost since my highest recorded weight in 2006.  Holy sheesh – that seems crazy to me – does it seem crazy to you?

For any new readers who may have stumbled on my blog recently, I want you to know that you can do it.  For years – decades, even – I felt hopeless.  I never gave up, but I never really believed I could do this, you know?  There was always a small big-ass kernel of doubt in my mind that made me wonder – can I ever really do this?  I had failed at reaching a healthy weight for so long, I didn’t know how to be anything but a fat girl who failed at weight loss.  And I’m not saying that to garner pity or admiration or for any other reason than to say, to those of you who may be feeling the same way, that I know how it feels.  And there is hope.  And you can succeed in your desire to achieve a healthy weight, a healthy body.  So please, never never never never never give up.  And as important as that: love yourself.  Know that you are enough and lovable and good and worthy just as you are.

So there you have it, folks.  My pounds and inches update.  A transition, after today, off the injections.  And Tuesday, I start phasing back in higher amounts of protein, fruits, and veggies.  I can also eat dairy, but I will be talking with my N.D. about how and when to add certain foods back in, since I might as well do this deliberately and test out whether I have any food sensitivities or allergies, right?  Anyhow, I’m excited.  So excited for what the next couple months hold.

How about you?  What are you looking forward to in the coming months?  And, if you could share one piece of advice with someone who is struggling right now, what would you say?

Comments { 18 }

Why I Keep Doing the Work

By on October 22, 2010 in consistency/commitment, determination/motivation, emotional stuff, fear, goals, hope/inspiration

Hello and happy Friday, friends!  I’ve been scarce this week and don’t really know when that’s going to change.  This may be my “new normal” for a while!  I’m still reading your blogs and commenting as much as I can…alas, my Twitter time has suffered tremendously!

Quick reminder: if you’re in on the Ninja Giving Skillz project, do what you gotta do ASAP!  I’m extending the “deadline” until Monday to give y’all a chance to catch up on your “homework.”

Also, I just have to give a shout out to my ND, Dr. Joanna Forwell (or Dr. Jo as I call her).  She called and left me the best voicemail offering to help me trouble-shoot through the stall that led me to end my latest HCG round early.  Thank you, Dr. Jo – I hope we get a chance to talk today!  It has been ages since I’ve worked with a doctor who has been so proactive and concerned about my health and who would leave me a 3-minute voicemail.  If you’re in Seattle and need an ND, give Dr. Jo a call.

Whew!  Okay, on to the “topic” of today’s post.  I was thinking today about how our motivation and/or reasons for doing what we do changes over time.  It’s a necessity, really.  If you started because you were fat and then lost weight, that “condition” of being fat is no longer the thing that keeps you going.  And we all know that if the motivation is simply NOT being fat…well, sometimes that *insert favorite food here* is much more compelling in the moment than the fear of getting fat again.

Likewise if your reasons for starting this journey were to address health issues, perhaps those health issues have resolved themselves.  I know so many of you who have reversed diabetes, gotten rid of high blood pressure, brought your cholesterol down into healthy ranges, and improved a whole host of other health conditions by eating healthier and moving your body.  And what a wonderful thing!  Or maybe you’ve gotten rid of the knee/hip/foot/back pain that just got to be too much and spurred you on to change.

Whatever your reasons were at the outset, it is likely and good that those reasons change and evolve as you get healthier (and, for many of us, lose weight).  When I started, my reasons included being healthier, feeling better about myself, feeling sexy, being able to do anything I wanted to (physically), and shopping in “regular” stores for clothes.  Well, I’ve achieved every single one of those objectives, but my motivation/determination hasn’t waned one bit.

If anything, it’s gotten stronger.

What I’ve discovered is that the longer I do this, and the healthier/faster/stronger I get – the more I want to keep going.  I love feeling healthy, strong, and fit.  I want to feel that way for the rest of my life.  The more I do this healthy living thing, the more I realize that, for me, the lifestyle itself is the reward just as much as losing weight is.

Don’t get me wrong – I know I’ll still have a week now and then where I just can’t find it in me to workout.  I know the scale will go up and down a little.  I know food will still call my name when I am going through something emotional.  But whatever temptation I may have to fall back into my old ways; no matter how I might stumble, I know that I am in this for life.

So that’s why I keep doing the work.  New reasons.  Because I love myself and how I feel.  Because I’m worth it.  Because I know I can do this; choose to live as healthy as I can in each moment, and be the best me I can be every day.

So why do YOU keep doing the work?

Comments { 6 }

Catching up, Decisions

By on October 20, 2010 in hcg, plan, R2P2

Wow, it feels like I haven’t been here forever!  What’s more, I haven’t had a chance to do more than glance at y’all’s blogs, so I am feeling very out of the loop.  Why the reason for my disconnect?  As always, and as I’m sure is true for all of you, life continues to be busy with no signs of letting up.  But I’ve also had some decisions to make these last few days.

First, I decided to end Round 2 of my HCG Protocol, so Saturday was my last injection and today is my last low calorie day.  Yippee!  My lowest injection weight (LIW) was 193.6, and my goal for the next six weeks will be to maintain within 2 pounds of that weight while eating healthy, working out, loving life, building muscle, running more, staying warm, and enjoying the holidays.  Not asking much, am I!?!

The reason I decided to end the round is that I did the math, and I had only lost 5 pounds in the final 15 days.  That is a lot for most programs, but not for the HCG Protocol.  I always said I would stay on it as long as I was losing effectively, so when I stopped losing effectively, I stopped the HCG.  I will probably do another round sometime next year, so stay tuned.

Another decision that I made recently is to close down my small business.  Some of you may remember that I work full-time and also run a business on the side.  My little business has stayed busy despite my total and complete neglect!  But I am also doing big, wonderful things at my day job and I really see a long-term future for me there.  So instead of splitting my attention between the two and/or feeling like I have to work 60+ hours/week to stay caught up, I made the choice to close my biz down.

It’s a bittersweet decision, because I love being in business!  But I get to do a lot of stuff at my job that is exactly what I would be doing as a small business owner – I spearheaded the development of our blog, I speak at educational seminars, etc.  So I am choosing to have the best of both worlds – a steady salary, reasonable hours, and the ability to satisfy both the lawyer and the entrepreneur in me.

So there’s my life in a nutshell this last week.  What’s up with you?  What have I missed on Twitter? I’ll be catching up on your blogs over the next few days – I’ve missed y’all!

Comments { 4 }

Week in Review + Weigh In

By on September 20, 2010 in hcg, R2P2, running, Vibrams, weekend, weight

Happy Monday, friends.  Despite my extremely sore calves (hello running in VFFs & not stretching after!), I am as happy as a girl can be while saying goodbye to the weekend.  I am well-rested and for me, that is like being caffeinated for most people!

I am in a “boring” spell again, where all is well and each day/week is much like the last.  Workouts are good (but my trainer is going on vacay, boo for me, yay for her), eating is spot on, and the relationships in my life are on an even keel.  How often can you say that?!?

My weekend was wonderful!  For the first time in a while, I didn’t have much planned.  Saturday was a lazy day other than my short (2.2 miles) run in my Vibram FiveFingers.  I hadn’t run in them for about two weeks and I didn’t stretch afterward as well as I should have, so all day yesterday and into today, my calves are VERY sore.  I have heard that some people on HCG experience problems with muscle soreness and cramping and it seems to me that I do get more sore while on the Protocol than off, so I am going to talk to my ND today about some supplements (hello electrolytes!) to help with that.

Saturday night my hubs and I went out to a comedy show with my brother and his girlfriend – Arabs Gone Wild.  It was HIL.AR.I.OUS!!!  My family is of Lebanese descent and the show is joke after joke after story after story about Middle Eastern people and families that are funny to anyone, but especially funny to those who grew up in or with Middle Eastern families!  Seriously, go check out some You Tube clips from this show, it will make you chuckle.  My cheeks and abs are still sore from laughing so hard!  Here’s a photo of us at the show (I’m the second from the right):

Sunday hubs and I went for a nice walk in our neighborhood and otherwise vegged out at home together, which we don’t do nearly often enough.  I also, through the course of the weekend, cleaned the kitchen, did 3 loads of laundry, and cooked several healthy meals for us to nosh on throughout the week.

Weigh-In/HCG Update

So my general HCG update is that things are going well.  I only loaded/feasted for two days this time, and I’m not sure if that’s what caused me to feel more hungry than last time or not.  In any case, whatever the reason, my body has adjusted and settled into the “routine” of my daily injections and low calorie diet.  I stopped feeling hungry about two days ago and am experimenting with eating slightly more protein than the Protocol calls for (compensating for it calorie-wise by cutting out the bread sticks/Melba toast I’m allowed to have) and making sure to get as much fiber as I can on 500 calories/day.  My favorite foods this week have been homemade kafta, asparagus, and strawberries.

Here are some stats for you:

Round One Lowest Injection Weight: 217
Round Two Starting Weight: 220.4
Round Two Post-Loading Weight: 223.6
R2P2D5 (today) Weight: 211.4

I’m 11.4 pounds away from Onederland, people.  I am still trying to wrap my brain around that!

So there you have it – other than that last part, nothing too exciting or notable in my life.  Things are good, and calm.  And I’m happy.  How are you?

Comments { 5 }