Guilt Free Dieting – A Case Study using HcG
June 5, 2010 by Kimberly Darwin
Filed under Beauty, Live Guilt Free
Is There a Guilt Free Way to Lose Weight?
Today I decided to document my curiosity. With all the hype about the HcG diet craze, my undying need for new experiences forces me to find out more. Anyone who knows me is aware of my anal research habits, which could include a dozen hours poring through white papers, documents and Web sites, before I make a decision to buy something. And even with all the research, sometimes the product or service turns out to be a scam anyway. I know a dozen people who have lost significant amounts of weight using HcG, and this with both the injections (ack) and the sub-lingual drops.
And since my aim is to live guilt-free, what better subject to study than one that causes more guilt than any other–dieting. So over the next 23 days I will document my findings here–both guilt-related, physical and mental–so that others can make a well-informed decision as to whether this miracle diet is worthy of their time or not. And no, that’s not me in the picture here.
My necessary disclaimers and full disclosure: I work in the Internet industry and I am not an affiliate or related to anyone selling this stuff. I bought my liquid HcG drops based on a friend’s recommendation at YourHcg.com. They were very revenue-oriented and terrible conversationalists, but gave me a 20% discount on a 15-day supply (I later learned that I will have to buy another bottle to finish the program, so don’t make that mistake!); the bottle arrived 3 days later as promised.
I am not a doctor, and I did not consult one professionally regarding this stuff. I did speak to a doctor who has prescribed the injections but knew nothing of the drops since he is not a naturopath and doesn’t claim to know anything about that area of the medical field.
I understand that weight is lost based on calories in vs calories out, and that the source of those calories has an effect on hormonal balance and thus weight loss. I exercise five times a week; I use a combination of strength training, Pilates, and cardio. I also ride my horse about three times a week.
My eating habits are already better than 95% of Americans. I eat fish and chicken, and limit pork and red meat to once a month. I limit my sugar but don’t avoid it completely. I eat low-fat or fat-free cheese, eggs and their whites, and eat only whole grain breads. I limit my pasta intake because I eat too much of it when it’s in front of me. If I could live on cheese and sour cream for the rest of my life, I would. (I know that there are many of you out there.) I eat five times a day, which feels more like grazing.
Prior to this experiment, I weighed 143.4 lbs. According to my trainer, I should weigh 125 lbs, which would put me at a BMI of 20, which is nearly at the bottom of the healthy range for my height of 5’7″. According to my doctor, I should weigh 140 lbs, which would put me at a BMI of 22. My BMI is currently 23, which is still within the range of healthy. Based on these recommendations, I am aiming for a weight of 133 lbs with a BMI of 21, which is smack in the middle of the healthy zone. This amounts to just over 10 lbs of weight loss.
Today is my first day of taking drops. I was instructed to administer 6 drops under the tongue, 6 times a day. On the first two days, I am instructed to eat as many high-fat foods as possible in order to prepare myself for the severe cutback of calories on the third day. I can understand this principle, yet since I don’t eat like that normally, I am kinda grossed out. I have had 2 Dunkin Donuts and a sausage and egg sandwich, which normally would be my entire day’s worth of calories.
I am on my sixth glass of water at 10:30am because of all the salt I just ate.
My stomach feels like I swallowed wet cement and it’s hardening inside right now.
Third dose of drops. The donuts are wearing off after 5 hours. I am ordering a pizza now.
Four more glasses of water, two pizza slices with more cheese than I’ve eaten in a year, and a three hour food coma. I feel absolutely awful.
Went to the drug store to buy a pregnancy test, as my research shows that many people have done this to test the potency of the HcG in their homeopathic bottles. Here’s what one site told me about using a pregnancy test:
“No, a negative pregnancy test result with homeopathic HCG does not mean that the HCG is not potent. WE tested this ourselves. When the Homeopathic HCG did not turn a pregnancy test positive we asked the same question of both our Homeopathic specialist and another doctor. Both confirmed that this was the expected result(Negative pregnancy test) because it is a Homeopathic formulation, which would require a different testing method. Specifically, homeopathy is based on both physical ingredients that you can see and resonance/frequencies that you can not see, but these are not cheaply or easily measured, which is why you want to be sure you are dealing with an experienced, reputable lab. The manufacturer we use for our products is a federally registered pharmaceutical laboratory in a full compliance with the FDA regulations governing pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities.”
How vague is that??????!!!
A donut and diet Pepsi. My pants don’t fit anymore. Preparing to cook tiny pieces of chicken en masse.
I went from 268 to 233 in 3 months or so. Not sure how ill do with my new broken leg but I was able to drink beer (1 or 2 per day) and have a few days of bad dieting. My only trick was smaller portions and eating a high lean protein diet (chicken and turkey) that was cooked on a grille. I always tried to eat on a small serving plate instead of a full size plate. I also started jump roping for cardio. With a 3lb jump rope.
Good Luck on your diet!
Day Two:
Time to start another day of gorging. After last night’s Kentucky Fried Chicken, my stomach is still full. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s diet just for the fact that it will clean me out.
Almost at the end of the second day, and can barely eat. Preparing my 500-calorie menus for the week and cooking in advance because I know I won’t have time after work. The challenge will be sitting at my desk and not snacking like I usually do.
I must say that whether it’s the drops or not, my appetite is pretty much gone. I didn’t gorge today like I did yesterday.
Day 3:
OK I’m kinda hungry. My breakfast is white tea, and the thought of not eating anything until lunchtime is against every dieting principle I have ever learned. Since I am a grazer, I can see me sneaking part of lunch as a snack (which according to the diet is allowed)—but there isn’t much to spare. I’m already wondering if I could stretch this to 750 calories and get away with it. Then I could add a HUUUUUGGGE chicken breast. But no, I’ll give this stuff a chance first.
Day 3, continued:
Hungry, but not starving. Had to eat a small breakfast and the bread from lunch already, but filling up my stomach with liquids is helping.
Day 4
Not hungry like yesterday. Lost 3 of the 4 lbs that I gained from my gorge fest. Much better today and I vow to drink more water.
Man that bottle of wine is calling my name.
Day 5
Well, don’t take a sip of wine if you are on this thing. Just drink more water, because I got a splitting headache from just a couple of sips. I lost not quite a pound, which HcG proponents would say was because I added something on the menu–but I say it was closer to normal weight loss and I’m ok with it.
Not terribly hungry today–as long as I keep taking the full dosage every day, my mind isn’t focusing so much on the reduced calorie diet.
Day 6
Cheated and didn’t lose anything, but didn’t gain anything either.
Day 7
Back on, and realizing that I can live on way less food than I thought. Exciting!
Don’t take this stuff on an empty stomach. It feels like I am full of acid. I miss cheese but I’m not very hungry.
OK, so it’s June 23rd and I can attest to my failure. I think the stuff stopped working, or summer parties got in the way, or I just gave up after I couldn’t spend the hour it took to create my meals for the day.
I did lose a few pounds and, more importantly, inches.
I plan to start over after the summer ends because it’s just too hard to concentrate right now.
If you are considering using the drops, then I would say at this point to give it a try, but focus more on the 500 calorie part–which is in my belief the reason I lost the weight–than the drops themselves.
I just started the diet one week ago today,I lost 6 lbs…good start. Its so hard to do any kind of diet management with 2 little kids around..lol But good so far! Your right the hard part is getting all the meals together and cooking completely fat and surgar free, But I am focused to one month. I am going on vacaton to Germany, I’m afraid I might gain it all back there eating and drinking all kinds of new foods, not knowing what is in it, let alone what I am ordering, haha. Good luck Kimberly!
hey aunt kibbie! i think you look hot. and i am trying to eat less too. sometimes running helps me. my weaknesses: cheese, pasta, ice cream. i love them. its horrible. today i ate a bagel a mocha iced coffee from dunkin donuts, carrots. a bite of hoagie, and half a fiber one bar. im stuffed. weirdddd
Hi again! Just discovered this site and I am working on building a guilt-free lifestyle myself.
In terms of losing weight guilt-free, I found a podcast on iTunes that really helped called Inside Out Weight Loss. I was almost fooled by the cheesy music they play during the short episodes but they really helped me to forgive myself and start over every day. I would recommend it to anyone. When I was listening to it, usually right before I went to sleep at night, I was successful and lost 40 pounds without much “struggle.” Here’s a link to the website if you’re interested http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/216-inside-out-weight-loss
Hi!
Thanks for the link. I’m sure that lots of people go through discouraging times while losing weight. They forget that it’s a process, rather than a goal, and that it doesn’t happen overnight. I will definitely download the podcast and see what it has to offer. In the meantime, stay Guilt-Free!
Kimberly