Thoughts, Ramblings and Other Stuff

How I Lost 40 Pounds in 40 Days – The HCG Diet

August 19th, 2008 Posted in Personal

The last few weeks have been quite a journey for me. A little over 40 days ago, I weighed in at a whopping 247 pounds. That’s about 50 pounds more than I should weigh and is for the most part the result of eleven plus years of poor eating habits and lack of exercise. Today as I write this post, I weigh 210 pounds. How did I lose so much weight in such little time? It was due to a combination of taking the hormone HCG and a very extreme low calorie diet.

Before I get into the “how I did it” I must say that I had to first change my mindset about food. I’ve come to the place in my life where I really need to lose all the extra pounds I have put on since leaving manual labor some eleven years ago when I started my Internet marketing business. I went from a size 34 waist and 180 pounds to a 42 inch waist and about 247 pounds. The goal is to get back to at least a 36 inch waist and a weight of about 190 lbs.

Now, what about this HCG? HCG is short for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin which is a hormone found only in women during pregnancy. It is produced in enormous quantities, so that during certain phases of her pregnancy a woman may excrete as much as one million international units per day in her urine. It is never found in the male, obviously because men don’t get pregnant.

Seeing that HCG is only found in women during pregnancy and never in males, it is something I had to take daily. Some take it by injection but I took it sub-lingual meaning I’d have to hold it in liquid form under my tongue for about 15 minutes before swallowing. I repeated this process twice daily. Having this hormone present in my body for 40 plus days along with limiting myself to a very strict diet of just 500 calories a day (you read right – 500 calories) allowed me to not only lose about a pound a day, but also to maintain a healthy physique in the process.

Now I’m going to try to explain how HCG works in layman’s terms. So please forgive me if this is lacking its proper medical terminology.

First of all one must understand that there are three kinds of fat that are stored in the body. The first is the structural fat which fills the gaps between various organs, a sort of packing material. The second type of fat is a normal reserve of fuel upon which the body can freely draw when the nutritional income from the intestinal tract is insufficient to meet the demand. The third type of fat which is entirely abnormal is the accumulation of such fat, and of such fat only, from which overweight people suffer. This abnormal fat is also a potential reserve of fuel, but unlike the normal reserves it is not available to the body in a nutritional emergency. It is, so to speak, locked away in a fixed deposit and is not kept in a current account, as are the normal reserves.

What HCG does is to allow a person to comfortably go about their usual activities on a diet of only 500 calories daily and lose an average of about one pound per day. Because the body needs more than 500 calories a day to function, fat reserves are used for energy. Under the effect of HCG, the overweight body is always able to obtain all the calories it needs from the abnormal fat deposits, regardless of whether it uses up 1500 or 4000 per day. The HCG allows you to live to a far greater extent on the fat which you are losing than on what you eat. Normal fat reserves (the healthy kind) are not touched. In the meantime, skin remains fresh and turgid, and gradually body weight returns to normal. The daily administration of HCG appears to have no side-effects other than beneficial.

When I embarked on this diet, I had pretty good hopes it would be successful simply due to the fact that my wife had come across so many testimonies from people who experienced success with it. Nevertheless, I knew I’d have to change the way I eat and exercise for the rest of my life unless I want to return to the fat man I had become.

I am reminded of the lyrics from Jethro Tull’s song “Fat Man” –

Don’t want to be a fat man,
People would think that I was just good fun.
Would rather be a thin man,
I am so glad to go on being one.
Too much to carry around with you,
No chance of finding a woman who…
Will love you in the morning and all the night time too.

Don’t want to be a fat man,
Have not the patience to ignore all that.
Hate to admit to myself half of my problems
Came from being fat.
Wont waste my time feeling sorry for him,
I seen the other side to being thin.
Roll us both down a mountain
And I’m sure the fat man would win.

Here is a brief chronicle of my journey over the period of several weeks to become once again a “thin man.”

Day 1

I weighed in at 247 pounds prior to starting diet. After taking the initial dose of HCG, the first two days consist of “loading” or in other words, eating lots of food — pretty much anything i want.

Here’s what I loaded up with the first day:

  • 4 donuts
  • 4 pieces of Papa John’s Italian sausage pizza
  • 1 hamburger
  • Whole order of Tom Kha Gai soup with side of rice (usually feeds 2 people)
  • Whole order of Crispy Shrimp (8 jumbo prawns, deep fried and dipped in spicy sauce)
  • 1 Dancing Deer brownie
  • 1 Snickers ice cream bar

It is supposed to be difficult to eat SO much food and the HCG makes you feel full. While i did feel full, I didn’t have any trouble eating all this stuff.

Day 2

I weighed in at 250 pounds, gaining 3 from the day before which I hear is normal. This is what I consumed on day 2 of loading:

  • Jack in the Box Croissant Breakfast sandwich
  • Jack in the Box Extreme Sausage sandwich
  • Dairy Queen 32 oz. Hot Fudge Milkshake (my favorite)
  • 1 Taco Bell taco and 1 burrito
  • Breyers Coffee Ice Ice Cream in Waffle Cone
  • 2 hamburgers and 2 hot dogs, 2 servings baked beans and potato chips (birthday party)
  • Bowl of Goldfish (the crackers not actual fish silly)

Day 3

I weighed in at 252 pounds – a total gain of 5 lbs. after “loading.” It’s pretty crazy I could gain that much weight after just two days of stuffing my face.

Now I begin the journey of eating just 500 calories a day which essentially will consist of two meals (lunch and dinner) of just 250 calories each. Each of these meals will consist of the following:

Breakfast – Nothing

Lunch – 3 ounces of lean meat which may consist of one of the following: veal, lean beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab, or shrimp.

3 ounces of select vegetables which may consist of one of the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, and cabbage.

1 selection of fruit with choices of an apple, a handful of strawberries, half a grapefruit or an orange.

1 breadstick (grissino) or one Melba toast.

Dinner – same thing as lunch

It is important to note that no matter what combination of items you eat (i.e. choice of meat, vegetable and fruit), the meals could not exceed 500 calories a day. So if I decided to have cube steak instead of chicken, I’d have to watch my vegetable portion seeing that cube steak consists of more calories than chicken. It was also recommended that I eat the same things for lunch and dinner on any particular day.

I mostly ate grilled chicken and cucumbers with a touch of lemon juice. Periodically I substituted white fish and cube steak and variations in vegetable choice included spinach salads and cooked cabbage. For my fruit, I always stuck with an apple.

I would also add that you can drink all the coffee and tea you’d like (unsweetened of course) but must also drink 2 liters or more water every day. I drank about 3 liters a day besides about a pot of coffee and a glass of green tea daily.

Sound boring? It mostly is but surprisingly, because of the HCG, I did not feel hungry prior to meals. Also when consuming these small 250 calorie meals I felt comfortably full afterwards.

As I think back now, most of my initial struggles steamed from the boredom that comes from not eating all the time. In other words I had spent a good amount of my time eating, snacking, drinking wine, etc. and now I had to find things to replace the time I used to spend eating.

For the duration that the HCG was in my body, I could not use regular lotion or use any conditioner in my hair due to the fact that the body can absorb the oils in these products which adds to calorie intake. I ended up using Corn Huskers lotion (which contains no oil) for my feet as I wear sandals most the time which cause my feet to get very dry. This worked out as well if not better than the oil-based lotions I typically use.

Another thing I thought I’d struggle with is the fact that I could not have my peppermint Lifesavers. My wife sternly warned me that I can have no breath mints of any kind and that many doing the HCG diet complain of having bad breath. However, I found a solution – Starbucks sugar-free peppermint breath mints. These are extremely small but powerful mints that contain zero calories.

While I am not going to bore you with the daily details of what I ate, how much I weighted each day, etc., I will say that I lost an average of about a pound a day. On day 42 when I stopped taking the HCG, my weight had gone from 252 pounds (weight after “loading”) to 210 pounds. That’s 42 pounds from my weight after loading or if you count from the weight I was prior to loading – 37 pounds. They say that you should count the pounds you gain after the loading phase which is why I can say I lost 42 pounds. Oh and as for the title of this post – “40 pounds in 40 days” – I had actually lost 40 pounds at the 40 day mark. Besides, it sounds better than “42 pounds in 42 days.” (I like round numbers)

I feel great right now. Everyone I know says how I look so different, not only in the size of my gut but the face, legs, arms – everywhere. I no longer get heartburn after eating certain foods or snore at night. I don’t even recall bouts of sleep apnea as I did before. I have about 20 more pounds I feel I need to lose and so will embark on a second but shorter phase in October where I have a period of about 4 weeks in which I will not be traveling.

I must truly thank my wife, Irma, for not only discovering this diet but doing all the research on it as well as preparing all the meals. She has done remarkably well on this diet herself but I’ll let her tell you about that in her own way.

If you would like to shed some of your “abnormal” fat by means of this diet, I’d encourage you to first read the eBook by Dr. A.T.W Simeons called “Pounds and Inches” and then do additional research online simply by searching the keyword “HCG” or the full phrase “Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin.” When you get ready to actually purchase HCG, you can get it at DrugDelivery.ca as well as many other places.

This is a very controversial diet, especially for males, seeing that you have a hormone in you that is only found in pregnant women. It has however been tested for years and always proved to be successful. Don’t worry men – you will not become pregnant nor develop female body parts. Most of the controversy will stem from telling people that you are only eating 500 calories a day. They will be shocked not only on the little amount of food you are living on, but how healthy you appear despite that. We kept the fact that we were taking the HCG secret for some time, at least until we were confident it was working.

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  1. 57 Responses to “How I Lost 40 Pounds in 40 Days – The HCG Diet”

  2. By krellpw on Aug 19, 2008

    Congratulations! That’s phenomenal progress. As some one who came from a similar starting point as you did and has pushed the “upper limit” even further, this is of great interest to me. My question is, “after the second phase, what comes next?” “More specifically, what’s your plan to manage/monitor your diet between phases and then after phase two?”

  3. By Eric Lander on Aug 19, 2008

    A great story David, thank you for sharing. This is certainly the first I have heard of HCG though I admit that it has me intrigued.

    I’m curious to know what your weight loss would have been like had you stuck to the 500 calorie diet each day without taking HCG. My guess is that your body would have really had trouble metabolizing everything and keeping you supplied with energy.

    I’m practicing a low carb diet now because it has worked well for me in the past. Like you, I’ll be faced with the challenge of having to develop strong eating habits after the program concludes.

    Best of luck and again, great informative read here.

  4. By David Wallace on Aug 19, 2008

    @krellpw – After each phase (which I am in now), you can eat whatever you want with the exception of starches and sugars. Don’t confuse that with “as much as you want.” In fact, my appetitie is much smaller than it was prior to this diet.

    I have to maintain this for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, I can begin to introduce carbs and sugars once again but with moderation. It is also suggested to stay away from refined products such as white bread, white rice, white pasta, etc.

    Of course common sense would be to maintain a healthy diet and moderate exercise and essentially not repeat the process that caused me to gain the excess weight in the first place.

    I can still have “cheat” days where let’s say I have a hamburger or a milkshake. However, I will do so in moderation.

    Furthermore, now that I am used to eating much smaller portions than before, I will try to maintain that. For example, when dining out, split a meal w/ my wife or take some home as most restaurant’s portions are much more than we need anyway.

  5. By David Wallace on Aug 19, 2008

    @Eric Lander – Hey Eric, nice to see you here!

    You are right – if I would have tried to live on 500 calories without the HCG, I would have not only been starving but would have become week, suffering muscle loss and would have looked unhealthy in the face and skin.

    My body would have pulled from my normal fat reserves for additional energy as opposed to the abnormal fat reserves in which case the abnormal fat reserves would have remained.

    One of the benefits I had in doing the HCG diet is that my profession requires little physical activity (unless you count walking back and forth from my desk to the coffee pot). If I had to do alot of physical labor, I would have struggled as you have very little energy restricting yourself to just 500 calories a day.

  6. By Robin Majumdar on Sep 14, 2008

    I’m wondering how much of a traffic spike you will get – not from this great article, but from the suicide of David Foster Wallace – to your site based on recent news.

    Thanks for sharing the diet info. :)

  7. By lynn on Sep 16, 2008

    Hi, wow, congratulations on the weight loss! I think I’m going to try this…. where do you purchase the HCG? Thanks!

  8. By David Wallace on Sep 16, 2008

    @lynn – You can purchase the HCG at DrugDelivery.ca. Also be sure to check out this shopping list for other ingredients you will need.

  9. By lynn on Sep 16, 2008

    Awesome! Thank you for all the information. I’ll be ordering this week. If I get all skinny, I’ll let you know. :)

  10. By Maria G on Sep 17, 2008

    Congrats David! I just started this diet this week and now I am compiling some information for friends and co-workers so they don’t end up in some crazy fake site. I’m going to direct them to this page because this is the best explanation I have read of this program. I didn’t do as good a job on my load days this weekend(no pizza or cookies or ice cream…what was I thinking!) but I’ve lost 5 lbs since Monday (three days ago!!) so i am super excited. I haven’t had a chance to get to my gym, yet(but I will.) Good luck to everyone trying this! Thank you, David, for this site!

  11. By Liz on Sep 22, 2008

    Hi David. I am currently on day 10 of the hcg diet. I’m struggling to eat my lunch and dinner. It has gotten so bland. I can’t stand the taste of meat just plain. Any suggestions on how I can power through this? Do you think it will effect my results if I used organic ketchup? Did you exercise during the 40 days? I am but sometimes wonder if I am burning too many calories (about 300-350). What do you think? I’ve lost 9 1/2 lbs. :)

  12. By David Wallace on Sep 22, 2008

    @Liz – I substituted chicken breast, cube steak, and veal and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and sometimes cayenne pepper. I also substituted vegetables between cucumbers with lemon juice, raw spinach with red wine vinegar and cooked cabbage.

    I wouldn’t recommend using ketchup or any other sauce such as BBQ, A-1, etc. as they tend to have sugars which will have a negative effective on the diet.

    I also did hardly any exercise. Didn’t have the energy for it. A bit a swimming each day but that was the extent of my exercise activities.

    If you have already lost almost 10 pounds in 10 days, you are doing great. Keep going and just take one day at a time. Best of luck to you.

  13. By K on Sep 22, 2008

    Hi David,
    I’m just starting on the diet. Alittle nervous… I’m a type 2 diabetic with only about 10- 15 pounds to loose.
    How did you know how many ounces of vegetables to have. The original diet doesn’t say?
    Thanks for your time and wish me luck!
    “K”

  14. By David Wallace on Sep 24, 2008

    @K – I will try to get my wife to stop by here to better respond to your question. I will say that the amount of vegetables you eat will depend on your choice of meat. For example if you eat cube steak, it has more calories than chicken so you would reduce your vegetable count. Also, spinach has less calories than say tomatoes.

    So I’d say it varies. Hopefully she will be by soon to provide better information. In fact, I am trying to get her to write a post on how she made her HCG recipe.

  15. By Diane on Sep 26, 2008

    Congratulations David!! I am a fellow HCG protocol follower. I started with a short round 25 injections due to a planned vacation I finished up my no sugar no starches the day we left. I had lost approx 16 lbs and over 18″ I am very excited for round 2 I will be starting next week full round this time still need to release 35-40 lbs. I did have a slight weight gain due to all the junk food on vacation. Good luck with all you do this is a great article for all who are curious about HCG.

  16. By Gloria on Sep 26, 2008

    Hi David,
    Congrats. I will be starting the 43 day protocol tomorrow. You have several posters worried about the blandness of their food. I did 4 weeks of internet research before deciding to do this diet. If they google HCG diet recipes, there are tons of options. You can bake apples with cinnamon and stevia. You can crush the grissini breadsticks along with garlic powder to make a breading. You can also roll onion rings in 1T of milk, coat in the breading and bake for onion rings. It’s really not that hard to be creative. I have assembled all of my seasonings on the counter so I know what I can work with. I have also measured out, bagged and frozen 2 weeks worth of lean ground beef, sirloin and chicken breast for ease. I have even bought all of the oil free soaps, shampoos and deodorants to maximize my loss as I am looking to lose 40 pounds as well. Again, great job!!

  17. By David Wallace on Sep 26, 2008

    @Diane and @Gloria – Thanks so much for sharing your stories of success. It is always good to know that lots of people or using this diet and seeing amazing results.

    I start a second round of 23 days next Monday to lose the additional 20 or so pounds I need to get to my goal weight.

  18. By Erica on Oct 18, 2008

    This is a response to Liz regarding ketchup –

    I have found organic, sugar-free ketchup – Westbrae Natural – in the healthfood section of my Fred Meyer’s – it’s ingredients are water, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, salt, onion, maltodextrin, spice, and natural flavor. Some may find some of these ingredients objectionable, but there are only 5 cals in 1 tablespoon, and I have found (as far as I can tell) that it does not affect my loss thus far. I just put a bit on a meatloaf that I make of lean burger, lots of onions and veggies, and crushed melba toasts. I sometimes add some ketchup to the loaf itself. Yum! Hope that helps – and great, simple, site, David! Congrats!!!

  19. By Erica on Oct 18, 2008

    KETCHUP: Oh, I forgot to mention, I add a bit of Stevia to the ketchup as it is pretty bland, being sugar-free. Tastes great!

    Erica

  20. By Michelle on Oct 30, 2008

    question…I just did my two loading days and I am now on day 1 of VLCD, my question is about the fruit. Can you split the apple in half and have half in apple in the morning, the other half at lunch and then an orange at dinner. As long as you are within the calories?

  21. By David Wallace on Oct 30, 2008

    @Michelle – Yes you can. You can also have your breadstick in the morning if you are hungry instead of having it at lunch.

  22. By Michelle on Oct 30, 2008

    Thank you!

  23. By Michelle on Oct 30, 2008

    another question, I am also doing sublingual, what did you mix yours with?

  24. By David Wallace on Oct 30, 2008

    @Michelle – Recipie is as follows:

    13 mil Liquid B12
    2 mil Colodial Silver
    5000 cc HCG

  25. By Michelle on Oct 31, 2008

    Don’t be shocked, I have another question. I am on day 2 of VLCD, I have lost 2.2 pounds :) . I have read contraversy on lip products, most say chapstick is not ok, buy carmex is ok? I would love to be able to use the carmex, but I don’t want to use products not on the ok list. I’m not eating 500 calories for nothing.

  26. By David Wallace on Oct 31, 2008

    @Michelle – My wife wore lipstick while on HCG so I would assume both chapstick and Carmex would be okay. The diet wants those on ti to stay away from lotions as the body can absorb those and add to calorie count.

    I wouldn’t think a bit of chapstick, even if absorbed would add that much if any to your calorie intake.

  27. By Tiana on Nov 12, 2008

    I have lost 3lbs in 3 days
    I am doing well and am PLEASED but I dont have strong will power
    PRAY FOR ME PLEAASE
    Ill keep you posted

  28. By Melissa on Dec 14, 2008

    I am curious about the colodial silver. Why are you taking this? Anytime I hear about colodial silver, I think of the man that took so much he turned blue…seriously.

  29. By Melissa on Dec 14, 2008

    How many ampules of the 5000cc do you buy?

  30. By Jay on Dec 15, 2008

    How do you mix the sublingual formula? You say the recipe is 13mil liquid B12, 2 mil collodial silver, 5000iu (not cc surely?) HCG. What amount do you take each day and how often? I have seen one formula that uses vodka to mix the HCG. It is all so confusing (I found the Gloria video difficult to follow and I would appreciate it if you could say what you did exactly. I understand the diet and the theory but am interested in the sublingual becuse wish to avoid injections. Thanks for your help!

  31. By David Wallace on Dec 15, 2008

    @Jay – I never put together actual mixture but the amounts are referenced above.

    As far as how much we tool each day, I believe it was 0.5 mili-leters in two doses – one in the morning and one in the evening.

  32. By David Wallace on Dec 15, 2008

    @Melissa – You are getting way beyond my knowledge of this. As I said in original post, it was my wife who did all the research, bought the ingredients and mixed the solution.

    Therefore when you get into technical questions about the formula, I am not going to be of much help.

    I’ll try to get her to stop by here and comment but cannot make any promises as she is not much for reading blogs.

  33. By Jay on Dec 15, 2008

    David It would be great if you could ask your wife how she mixed the solution and what she used as a sublingual formula. If you could write it down on the blog that would be fantastic. Then how much of that solution you took each day–ie if it was .5ml in morning and evening. Your achievement was so outstanding that you inspire all the newbies to HCG!

  34. By Jay on Dec 15, 2008

    Another question is how much time did you go on Phase III and IV before restarting the HCG? I have been reading that ‘immunity’ builds up after 43 days and that HCG becomes ineffective for a period so must be stopped before doing a second course. Did you stop for 6 weeks — 3 weeks on no carbs/no fats about 800-1000 cal per day and then 3 weeks of limited carbs/fats about 1200 cals per day? Or were you able to do a second 43 day protocol with less time out?

  35. By David Wallace on Dec 15, 2008

    @Jay – I’ve only done two phases and went 6 weeks between Phase I and II. First 3 weeks I stuck to a South Beach type of diet – no sugars or proteins and thereafter ate what I wanted in moderation of course and trying to avoid enriched wheat products (i.e. white breads, pastas, etc.).

    I will be going on one final phase after new year to shed about 20-25 more pounds to get to by ideal weight and then should be done with it forever.

  36. By Jay on Dec 15, 2008

    Many thanks David for the information! So a schedule would look something like: 43 days +3 days HCG; 42 days diet; 43 days + 3 days HCG; 42 days diet? Did you not take HCG every 7th day so that the whole HCG phase lasted 49 days?

    Did you lose any weight during the non HCG Diet phase or was it solely maintenance of the weight loss of the HCG phase? Simeon talks about ‘resetting’ the weight levels.

    You are so kind to answer all these queries! Thank you!

  37. By David Wallace on Dec 15, 2008

    @Jay – I only did 23 days 2nd Phase.

    While not on HCG, I maintained weight but did not lose anything.

  38. By Jay on Dec 22, 2008

    Hi David Did you while on the 42 day protocol skip taking HCG every 7th day? Or did you take it every day? It is not clear on your blog. Also what is your wife’s recipe?

    Happy Christmas!

  39. By fitgurl on Feb 26, 2009

    I have obtained a great deal of info about the HCG diet from http://www.hcgcoach.com

  40. By fitgurl on Feb 26, 2009

    I am new to the HCG protocol and will start once all the products arrive. This has been a very informative site and I will share it with family and friends.

  41. By Christine on Feb 28, 2009

    Hi David… I am 5′ exactly and on my first load day weighed in at 196. I am now ending day 5 (or 7 if load days are included). As of this evening I weigh in at 184.3 I have lost about 12 lbs. in 7 days and have stuck strictly to the diet. Have even forgotten to eat my fruit or melba toast on several occasions. I have a bad thyroid disorder and i have lost so much puffiness mostly around my face and eyes. I am a bit scared that I have lost so much so quickly but am at the same time thrilled. I am taking the sub-lingual method and currently taking 1cc per day divided into 3 doses of .33 each. Are there any side effects to losing too much too quickly? Thank you. :)

  42. By Mery on Mar 4, 2009

    Hi David! Great site!

    Christine I seem to be experiencing the same weight loss as you. I am losing about an average of 3lb a day I am now on day 6 and have lost 14lbs. I am a bit scared to be honest with you. I am very strict and only eating 3 oz of chicken or shrimp. No breadstick or Melba toast. I got my hcg from a local doctor. I have an appointment to see her Friday (once a week) for a f/u appt. She is also doing hcg but when we spoke she had only lost 9lbs in 10 days.

    Any advice? I will post again once I speak with her about the weight loss for this week. Maybe its nothing and the weight loss will fall to half a pound or 1 lb daily soon, who knows?

    thank you!

  43. By Jessica on Mar 17, 2009

    Great Info site!!! David what happen to your progress. The site was like reading a book… I want to know what happen.

  44. By Skye Rivers on Mar 21, 2009

    David, great site. Just went back on this and am more confused than ever. We both live in the same area, and I am working with a company in Scottsdale. It seems they do things a little different, like5 -6 small meals a day, breaking up the meals 2-4 hours between each one. They feel a man of 300 pounds and a women of 165 would not be on the same caloric intake. What is your feedback on this. Plus I am doing grams and hate it. I work better in ounces. Any ideas? Should I continue doing what they have shared? It is a bit different than the book; also, balsamic v is not good due to sugar nor is Salmon and Tuna of which I did the first time around. Is that exceptable? Lastly, this place said you can eat as many veggies as you want, not portion control….?????

  45. By David Wallace on Mar 21, 2009

    @Skye Rivers – Well I’m no expert and only went by what my wife (who thoroughly researched HCG)told me to do. As far as a 300 lb person needing more calories than a 165 lb person, that is a myth, at least according to the “Pounds and Inches” ebook. In fact I believe the book goes so far as to say that a 300 lb person has more abnormal fat reserves to burn energy off of than a lighter person.

    The main idea of the low calorie diet while taking HCG is that the diet provides just enough for a person to maintain a healthy physique and not be hungry and when the body burns the 500 calorie intake, it will then pull from the abnormal fat reserves – thus causing one to lose weight.

    I know the Balsamic has sugar but I hated Red Wine Vinegar cause it’s to sour. I also avoided Salmon and Tuna and when eating fish, stuck to what is suggested on the list.

    Finally, you say your consultant says to eat as many veggies as you want but in reality the more you eat, the more calories you intake.

    If you have yet to read “Pounds and Inches” I suggest you Google it, download it and give it a read.

  46. By Melanie on Mar 24, 2009

    I am a female and I lost 33 pounds in forty days on the hCG diet. I flubbed up a bit some days, but each meal is a chance to get back on the diet. I was amazed by my progress. Before the hCG diet, I had been trying everything I could find or create, starvation, fasting, detox diets, and of course, high fat, high protein, low fat, low protein, vegetarian, and plain old balanced low calories to no avail. I finally found the hCG diet, researched Dr. Simeons (I was impressed by his life’s work and credentials) and watched the YOUTUBE videos of people on the diet. I found a clinic offering the protocol and started.
    I LOVE THIS DIET. After I stopped the diet, the weight stayed off. It has been seven months of no weight gain. I gave away my “fat” clothes. I love wearing my size 6 wardrobe! If middle age has made anyone feel like giving up on ever being slender, hCG works! Try it!

  47. By Patty on Mar 26, 2009

    David, I can not thank you enough for the information you have shared. I do not want to got with the injections and thrilled to hear you can take Sub-lingual. Could you please ask your wife to clarify the dose. Thank You So Much!!!!

  48. By Uwe on Apr 12, 2009

    David, congrats and Thanks for sharing your experience. Yours pretty much sums up mine, almost to a T, only that I lost 53lbs in 45 days. I do believe that the key to making this successful is staying with the protocol, and not experimenting or adding foods or other substances to it. I also went with sublingual dosing.
    The entire time during the diet, I did not exercise, but worked hard, physically, 6 days a week.
    Best wishes to you and all that read this!

  49. By redd on Apr 21, 2009

    I just started this diet and I’m on day 6 and I have lost 6 punds!! This is great! I have tried 5 million diets and I exercise regularly and nothing compares to this! I weigh 240 and it is staring to come off! I can’t wait to see what happens at the 40 day mark!
    Redd

  50. By Paula Higginbottom on May 10, 2009

    Thanks for your encouragement. I have been on the sublingual HCG for 30 days and lost 24 pounds so far, and I know I would have lost more if I had not gone off the diet for a couple of meals several times. I am a wife and Grandma who does all the cooking for family events and ended up just eating right along with the relatives that were visiting since I didn’t tell anyone I was on a diet. I sort of got bored and felt like I am loosing my momentum with staying with the program. I drank diet soda which seems to stimulate your appetite and I take nibbles of things if I really crave that food so this has really slowed down my weight loss. Then, I added one egg in the morning with salsa which seems to help me since I always make breakfast for my husband and sit down with him. I haven’t been starving, but I do get hungry so I find that if I take a bite of some chicken wrapped in lettuce, it’s one of the snacks that doesn’t make me gain weight. The great thing is, even though I haven’t followed the low calorie diet like I should have, I really see my weight loss in the way my clothes have gotten too big. I skip taking the HCG once every 7 days, and so I wondered if you could tell me if I can continue on the HCG past 40 days or not. I need to loose another 40 or 50 lbs. to be the correct weight and since I didn’t do so well so far, I was planning to order more HCG and keep going. I did this on my own without anything more than information on the web and I don’t know anyone else who has ever done this before so I didn’t know who to ask. Can you tell me if this will work or do I really have to quit taking it when I run out of my last batch? Thank you and God Bless You.

  51. By mary on May 11, 2009

    congrats david! that is awesome. i started injections 3 days ago and today was my first day on the 500 calories. i am a little hungry, but not too bad..considering. i am thinking of starting a blog dedicated to hcg diet recipes. i have yet to get sick of my ‘chicken and salad’ meals…but it’s only been one day. ;) hehehe. i am really hoping to lose around 35-40 pounds on this first round…take some time off and lose another 35-40. i am extremely over-weight. it’s exciting to see so many other people engaging in this controversial treatment. i have some friends and family that think i am absolutely nuts.

  52. By Karen on May 17, 2009

    Mary I love your idea about starting a web site for recipes.
    David, I am at the close of day 4 and have followed the diet very strictly.
    I AM STARVING!! I went for an hour walk outside today and it was difficult for me. Do you know why? I take this walk all the time and just didnt have any energy today.
    Could you and your wife share some recipes?

    thanks for the info it really helped

  53. By David Wallace on May 17, 2009

    @Karen – If I experienced any hunger pains during HCG, I think I just drank lots and lots of water… either that or go to sleep.

    Sometimes I also ate a Melba Toast or two and that would subdue any hunger pains.

    That being said, I think most of my struggle, at least for the first week revolved around simply breaking the habit of eating all the time (i.e. meals, snacking, etc.). I wasn’t used to limiting myself to just 2 small meals a day. However after a week, it was quite the norm and the habit of just eating something to eat was pretty much gone.

  54. By marsh on May 30, 2009

    well 30 years later i’m ready to get started again!!! 30 yrs ago i did this and then i got really sick and had to take big big steriods and have gained 200 lbs but now i’ve had a gooooood talk with my self and now that i can find this again i’m going to try again !!!! hope i can do this 1 yr ago i went to dr. and pleaded for help????? they said every thing was normal come back in 3 months i told her i would be back in 12 months to get rxs that everything was normal????? she then said if i give you some thyroid will you come back in 3 months???? ok
    well that little yellow pill 1.0 synthroid i’ve lost 30 lbs haven’t had to take steriods and have only had alittle bit of asthma ????? so i’m ready to do this!!!! hope this will help some of your other readers dr. said the thyroid shouldn’t do this but i feel better than i have in 30 yrs go figure!!!! thanks for lettin me share wish me luck

  55. By gayle on Jun 2, 2009

    Hi. Thank you for such a helpful blog. i am on day #3 of the VLCD, so far 2 1/2 pounds, no feelings of hunger or cravings and more energy than normal..wooo!hooo! I have been reading every thing i can about the protocol. However, i am unable to find anything regarding exercise. I did find tht all massages are discouraged but i find nothing about exercise. A must? a reccomendation? what type? thank you in advance for any help you can give me on this.

  56. By Ann on Jun 26, 2009

    I just finished Phase II and starting phase III but how long do you have to wait to start another round?

  57. By patti on Jun 30, 2009

    I love your blog. One question, did you eat any other kind of steak other than cube and how often?

  58. By David Wallace on Jun 30, 2009

    @patti – I think I ate sirloin a couple of times but mostly stayed with chicken as it is a leaner meat with less calories.

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