HCG #2: Week One

There have been many mornings when I expected to see this message on my bathroom scales!  But no more!

Our first week on our second cycle of the hCG diet has gone well.  Better yet, I find I am less hungry this time around!  This may be because I upped my hCG dose from .35 to .40 cc 3x daily, but I think it also helps that I knew what to expect this time.

As anticipated, Sarah, Jacob, and I lost the weight we gained during our 2-day "gorge" within 3 days.

Jacob had gained 2.8 lbs; he lost 2.8 lbs the first day.  I had gained 4.6 lbs; I lost 5.0 lbs in 2 days.  Sarah had gained 7.0 lbs; she lost 7.0 lbs in 3 days. 

And we have all continued our downward trend.  In 7 days Jacob has lost 13.2 lbs (must be nice to be a male teenager with a healthy metabolism!).  In that same 7 days, Sarah has lost 10.8 lbs, for a total loss of 36.0 lbs since November 1st, and I have lost 9.4 lbs for a total loss of 46.7 lbs.   

During my first cycle on hCG I lost 11.8 lbs in the first week.  I fully expected to lose slightly less weight during this second cycle, and I even told myself I'd be happy if I lost at least 9 lbs this first week.  I lost 9.4 and I am happy, yet I find I can't help comparing the results with last time and feeling mildly disappointed.  That's something I'll have to overcome during the next 5 weeks.

Part of the problem may be that, between gaining back 4 lbs during maintenance (the full amount allowed) plus the 4.6 lbs from the gorge, I really only have a net loss of 0.8 lbs for this week.  That means that after a whole week, I'm only eight-tenths of a pound lighter than I was at the end of the first hCG cycle back on December 20-21.

Still, everything from here on out is fresh, pure weight loss, with numbers on the scale that I haven't seen in several years.  I know I will find great pleasure in that.  No more disappointment!

The kids and I have been joined this time by my friend Wyndie.  That makes it more fun, since she and I work together (at school, Wyndie is my aide, and in church she is the Primary president while I'm the secretary).  Now we can compare notes everyday.

Wyndie has less than 15 lbs to lose, so she is doing the 23-day cycle of hCG.  Her main purpose in trying out the diet is to see if Dr. Simeons's claims that hCG can reset the entire metabolic system are correct.  Her family background includes thyroid disease, and recently she has had symptoms that may indicate she's moving in that direction.  Hopefully this diet can nip it in the bud.

Since I know of several other people who intend to do the shorter 23-day cycle, here is some information from Dr. Simeons's book:

1)  The doctor notes that the hCG should be used for a full 23 days, no less.  His experience shows that any shorter use of the hormone nearly always ends in regaining all the weight.  23 days are required to make the weight loss permanent.

2)  If the necessary amount of weight is lost more than a few days before the end of the 23 days, weight loss will stop and the dieter may begin to lose the appetite-suppressing effect of the hCG, leading to hunger.  If this occurs, do not stop the hormones or the diet!  Instead, increase the daily amount of food eaten to about 800 calories and continue to the last day.  (If hunger continues and weight is stable, it may be increased to as much as 1,000 calories per day.)

3)  Like the full 40-day hCG cycle, the 23-day cycle of the hormone must be followed by 3 extra days of the restricted-calorie diet, to give the hormone time to circulate out of the body (or weight gain will recur).  Thus it is actually a 26-day diet, with the first 23 days using the hCG.

4)  Also like the full 40-day cycle, the 23-day cycle must be followed by 6 weeks of maintenance.  This resets the hypothalamus so the body accepts the new weight as permanent.  During the first 3 weeks: no sugars or starches.  During the second 3 weeks, starches and sugars can be gradually added back into the diet. 

5)  You must weigh yourself everyday to see that you neither gain nor lose more than 2 lbs during the entire 6 weeks of maintenance.  If you gain more than 2 lbs above your weight on your last day of the hCG hormone, you must quickly take it off again by having a "steak day" that same day.  Drink lots of water but eat nothing at all until dinner time.  Then you eat a "huge" steak with either an apple or a raw tomato.  That's it.  The next morning you will find you lost all you gained, and usually more.  I know, because I had to do 5 steak days during my 6 weeks of maintenance.  It worked!

6)  Oh yes, and don't forget that--again--like the 40-day cycle, the shorter cycle also begins with the 2-day gorge of fatty, sugary foods.  You start the hCG drops (or injections, if you prefer) on day one.  On days one and two you "gorge."  On day three of the hCG, you begin the 500-calorie-per-day diet.

Here's a note for any vegetarians who might be interested in this diet.  Dr. Simeons does have a plan for you (see his book, Pounds and Inches, for details).  However, he states that the modified diet for strict vegetarians is very restrictive with fewer rewards.  His clients on the vegetarian diet lost at only about half the rate of his other patients.

Is it worth it?  Each individual must decide for himself/herself.  All I can say with any authority is that this is a diet that works!