hCG Diet News - hcgdietinfo.com

A Weight Lifter’s Perspective on the hCG Diet

by hCG Diet Info — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:04:24 +0000

Hey Guys.

I’m pretty active on a lot of bodybuilding forums. I’m stumbled
upon the HCG diet and gave it a go. Here’s my review from someone
who was taking creatine and lifting weights on a daily basis. This
review was posted in other forums, but I thought I’d also share it
here. It was more written for a skeptical audience, so please
take it with a grain of salt. It’s just my overall impressions of
the diet.

Joe

Background: I’ve been weight training consistently since junior high
and seriously off and on for the last 4 years or so. Last January I
moved to New York from California for a new job. Between trying to
get my affairs in order, 6 months of going away parties, being in a
much more stressful job, working long hours, not having typical
grocery stores - I had gained around 40 pounds. I’m a classic
endomorph, so gaining muscle is easy, but so is fat, especially when
I really enjoy eating and drinking. Over the last few months, I have
finally fallen back into a consistent weight training/cardio routine
with much healthier eating habits through sheer will. Living in
Brooklyn and working in Manhattan without typical grocery stores
(only corner markets) makes it difficult to eat healthy as my
options aren’t what I was used to living in the San Francisco Bay
Area. Over the last few months, I have steadily been dropping
weight, but it has been slow going at 2-4 pounds per month. At my
heaviest, I weighed around 258 and had dropped down to 246.5 when I
started the diet.

Reason for Choosing Simeons Protocol: I’m an open minded individual,
who despite that remains empirically skeptical. When it comes to
supplements, training routines, diets, etc, I look for two things:
Scientific Data and Real World Feedback. A lot of times, these
things are based on bro-science, self-proclaimed guru babble, or
other irrelevant data. Other times they’re based on legit science,
but never seem to pan out in the real world. I found Simeons
Protocol extremely interesting for two reasons. People who have
actually gone through it and provide feedback overwhelmingly speak
very highly of it. I have seen enough logs and reviews (with
pictures) that it’s obvious there is something to it. Also, the
people who speak poorly of it, almost never have gone through the
diet. My overall impression is that it has extremely positive
feedback after you sift through all of it. The second thing that
caught my eye was that a doctor was actual using this in a clinical
setting and attained consistent results. It was at that point I
started going through any all of the studies I could find on it.
After reading abstracts, you’ll find that the results are extremely
inconclusive, but if you go through the actual studies you’ll
realize the ones that have discredited the protocol did not follow
the strict guidelines of it. So, after pricing it out, I figured
what the hell, and might as well try it because I’m just straight up
fat.

My Review: I’m actually quite impressed. In 30 days, I have lost
31.5 pounds. My room-mate in 30 days, lost 40 pounds. Unfortunately,
I did not take body-fat measurements before and after, so I can’t
speak to actual composition changes. However, a few things did
strike me a significant. The first being that I did not lose and
strength and actually got stronger on some lifts. I purposely took
creatine to maintain strength, but despite the severe calorie
restriction, my muscles did not suffer that much. The second
significant thing that I noticed is lack of hunger. I get extremely
irritated when hungry, which would usually only take a few hours of
an empty stomach. While taking the HCG I did not suffer from severe
hunger pangs. I did experience occasional and mild hunger pangs, but
nothing compared to what would be expected. I did however really
miss eating, which was great for me because it helped me separate
the psychological and physical cravings much more clearly.

Overall, I would recommend it. I think the real dispute comes it
whether or not the HCG has any effect as you should expect people to
lose weight on a Very Low Calorie Diet.

Controversy: I don’t think that most people would question whether
or not it’s effective. Based on the actual research done, the many
logs accessible on the internet, and my personal experience with
myself and my room-mate, I don’t question it’s effectiveness. The
real question is whether or not the HCG has anything to do with it.
I’m not going to be so naive to make statements of fact based on my
assessment, but I will note observations that I find interesting.
What I find more interesting though are the natural conclusions that
can be drawn based on the rationale, no matter what side of the
debate you’re on.

Hunger: Common knowledge within this community would tell you that
someone of my size eating only 500 calories a day should be
starving. Even from personal experience, just missing a meal was
enough to make me very irritated and hungry. Yet, I found it
relatively easy to maintain this diet. More than anything I actually
missed eating good food. I had no idea the extent of my enjoyment of
eating. Both my room-mate and I were able to distinguish much more
clearly between psychological cravings and actual hunger pangs. At
one point we both increased on dosage and noticed a decreased
appetite. I wouldn’t rule out placebo effect by any means, but I
think this was significant. Perhaps I’ve under-estimated my own will
power, but I find the lack of hunger to a very compelling
observation for HCG.

Metabolism Drop: Common knowledge in this community also states that
my metabolism should have come to a complete stop eating 500
calories a day and weight loss should slow making it harder to lose
weight. Whether you believe HCG had any effect or not, controversial
conclusions can be drawn. Because either the HCG helped release fat
stores, or despite the extreme calorie deficient my metabolism
couldn’t have come to a stop because I continued to lose weight.

Fatigue: On diet like this, most people would assume fatigue would
severely set in. Both my room-mate and I suffered very little
fatigue. I would say that by the end of my workouts I felt slightly
more tired than usual, but nothing significant to note. My strength
stayed high on this diet (with creatine) and my workouts did not
suffer. I would say that my stamina was not the best, but it was
equal to a keto diet which makes me think it had more to do with low
glycogen levels.

Muscle vs Fat Loss: I can’t provide any substantial evidence for
this either way since I did not take body-fat measurements. I
continued to weight train heavily while on this diet. With the
addition of creatine, I lost no strength and actually improved on
all of my lifts. I’m not sure conclusively how much muscle loss can
occur with strength increases at the same-time, but I would assume
it should be small. Even if I did lose substantial muscle, I’m not
sure how upset I am because my strength increased the entire time.
This can either be chalked up to HCG or perhaps we need to re-
consider recommendations for people in the 20%+ body-fat range when
it comes to losing weight. Perhaps an extreme calorie restricted
diet is the quickest way to shed body-fat and combined with
creatine, muscle mass (or at least strength) can be preserved.

Like I said, I’m not going to make any conclusions. I wanted to post
this review because I think some interesting discussions could
probably result from it. As I mentioned before, I’m not going to
make broad generalizations about human physiology based on my
limited experience on this diet, but I do believe a 31.5 pound loss
in 30 days while improving strength speaks for itself.

The real question is what will happen in the next 30-60 days
regarding my overall changes.

Tags: body, bodybuilding, clinic, diet reviews, eat, eating, features, food, hcg diet, hcg weight loss, health, lose weight, reviews, Supplements, tea

The Power of Positive Feelings

by hCG Diet Info — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:42:51 +0000

The Power of Positive Feelings

You feel powerful and strong. You feel an energy inside you that says “I
am here to do something great!” You feel yourself walk into any situation,
confident and at peace. You feel successful.

Ah, how good it feels!

Have you ever noticed that we ask each other, “How are you feeling
today?” I have never met anyone who asked me, “How are you thinking
today John?”

Why is this?

Perhaps it is because how we feel is how we live. If I feel miserable, my
life reflects that misery. If I feel confident, then I act confident and I
attract into my life that which I desire because I feel I deserve it.

In every moment, you and I feel something. And these feelings we have shape
our destiny. Notice I write “these feelings we have”. Feelings do not
have us; we have feelings.

Most personal development focuses on thinking. Change your thinking and you
change your life. I agree, but thinking arises from feeling. If I am holding
tension in my body, if I feel tense, then my thinking is shaped by tension. And
I react accordingly.

That tension is the result of accumulated thoughts and feelings. And the more
thoughts that accumulate, the greater the tension (also known as stress) until
ultimately I make myself ill; both physically and mentally.

Positive thinking is a great idea, but it has limitations, does it not? Can
you tell me what your next thought will be? Not without thinking about it! And
by the time you have come up with an answer your mind has already moved on to
something else.

Plus all thoughts are found in the past. One cannot think in this moment. One
can only experience this moment and it is this moment and the succession of this
moment that make your life. Right now, plus right now, plus right now, equal
your life and the results you create.

To make a change in how you experience and what you do with “right
now” you must act on the feeling level to make true changes. And by
changing how you feel right now, you change your destiny.

We all know of this power. It is a power we are born with that becomes
discarded when we are told to stop feeling and start thinking. All limitations
exist only in our thinking, yet that is exactly what everyone is telling us to
do! Get an education and learn your limits!

If you have ever watched a young child develop, you will notice how they do
not accept “no” for an answer. Failure does not stop us until we learn
that failure means something bad. We then spend the rest of our life trying to
reprogram our mind with clichés about how failure is the foundation of success,
but do we really believe it? As children we fall, we hurt, we let the feeling go
and we take off running again. As adults we fall, we hurt, and we tell stories
about it for the rest of our life to anyone who will listen!

If you want to achieve a breakthrough in any area of your life, stop trying
to reprogram your mind and notice how you feel. When you set a goal, notice the
feelings that arise for you. Fear? Anxiety? Doubt? They are nothing more than
feelings; electro-chemical impulses.

The good news? You can learn to let these feelings go and when you do, your
potential has new life and it expands beyond the limits of thought. You feel a
new energy when you realize all that prevents you from having all that you
desire are these feelings which you have chosen to hold on to because you think,
yes you think, they serve you in some way.

No analyzing is necessary, nor programming or re-programming, nor words; just
feelings. Powerful feelings.

To re-learn how to access your natural ability to let go of any unwanted
feeling discover the Sedona Method Course. Click here to order your free tape and subscription.

Tags: body, eat, focus, inspiration, Keeping Focused, motivation, Positive Feeling, positive thinking, program, Sedona Method, Self Help

How a Colon Cleanse Can Help You to Lose More Weight

by hCG Diet Info — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:44:20 +0000

What is colon cleansing and how does colon cleansing help us to lose weight?

Colon cleansing is a simple solution to many health problems while also providing numerous benefits. For dieters, the most desirable of these benefits includes the significant weight loss that results after even one colon cleansing treatment. In fact, it is not uncommon for colon cleansing to flush ten to thirty pounds of matter, resulting in instant weight reduction. Not only does this result in a healthier colon, but rapid weight loss and a healthier, detoxed system.

Ailments treated by colon cleansing include:

* constipation
* fatigue and insomnia
* parasite infection
* excess weight
* bad breath
* irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
* a protruding belly
* frequent colds
* hemorrhoids
* yeast infections

A frequent bowel problem for most people, and particularly dieters, includes constipation. Most often, constipation is attributed to a low fiber diet and lack of sufficient water, which cause fecal matter to become compressed and condensed. Not only is this uncomfortable, but it results in slower weight loss or even a complete stall simply because the system is “backed up” rather than continuously moving forward.

Over time, a constipated system results in the slow release of toxic wastes, causing strain on the intestinal system- most often signs of this include hemorrhoids, varicose veins, hernia and similar problems. In fact, the longer the waste is permitted to stay in the body, the more the proteins become rancid and the carbohydrates ferment. This ultimately manifests in physical ailment and disease and has been attributed to everything from obesity to cancer.

With even one bowel movement per day, there is still a minimum of three meals worth of waste matter in your system at all times, and a constipated body can hold several days, months or even years of fecal matter. Furthermore, your system can become toxic from the poisonous gases that are caused by foods you don’t tolerate. This is known as “self polluting” in which the poisonous gases can enter your bloodstream and irritate your joints and organs. When your body is in this state, it cannot efficiently operate, let alone lose weight and become healthy.

Most often, people rely on bran and raw vegetables to stay regular. However, these are so rich in fibrous bulk they cannot get through the small spaces remaining for passage of waste in a constipated colon. Instead the waste matter backs up, begins to ferment, and contribute further to poor digestive health.

For those that want lose weight, maintain a healthy body and balance between body spirit and mind, colon cleansing is a must try. Not only does colon cleansing result in instant weight loss, provide fast relief from numerous ailments, and act as a preventative agent for health issues, but for those seeking to lose weight and maintain optimum health and mentality will find colon cleansing to be an essential addition to their efforts in healthy living.

Read more about colon cleansing:

Organica Research offers more reading on the subject and Free Special Report

Complete Colon Cleanse: The At-Home Detox Program to Restore Good Health, Boost Vitality, and Ensure Longevity

Recommended, high quality colon cleanse products:

Try Ultimate Colon Cleanser: All-Natural Body Cleanse

Dual Action Cleanse

Colon Shield - Treat Bloating, Gas and Constipation with All Natural High Fiber - Save at least 50%

Recommended fiber supplements for following a colon cleanse treatment:

Life Extension Enhanced Fiber Food Powder-Stevia 480 Grams

Resource Benefiber Powder Dietary Fiber Supplement 7.2 Ounce

Tags: body, cleanse, colon cleanse, Detox, eat, features, food, health, Healthy Living, lose weight, organica research, product, program, rapid weight loss, stall, Supplements, tea, Weight Loss

Yerba Mate Tea for hCG Dieters

by hCG Diet Info — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:45:47 +0000

What’s in Yerba Mate Tea?
Yerba Mate is known to be rich in Vitamin C pantothenic acid and chlorophyll. It also provides most of the B Complex vitamins, Vitamin E, and essential mineral salts: iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, silica, choline, potassium, manganese, silica, choline phosphorus, phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, and the alkaloid mateine.

What does that mean?

Well, silica and phosphorus nourishes aging skin and hair. Magnesium helps maintain healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin E lends to a healthy complexion. Chlorophyll is an essential antioxidant that combats toxins and cleanses the body. Choline (hCG Dieters love Choline!) assists with the efficient metabolizing of exceess fat B Complex and helps to energize the body.

Flavor and Variation of Yerba Mate Tea

Aside from the benefits of the tea, the flavor is a traditional, yet smooth blend of sweet and spicy herbs. A favorite of tea connoisseurs. For variety, try Roasted Cut- a unique flavor of Roasted Yerba Mate can be a nice change of pace for hCG dieters drinking the tea several times a day.

Yerba Mate Tea- Green

Tags: beverages, body, eating, food, hcg diet, hcg dieters, health, product, Supplements, tea, Teas, vitamins, Weight Loss, Yerba Mate Tea

Cravings for Sugar and Carbs on the hCG Diet?

by hCG Diet Info — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:42:45 +0000

Candida overgrowth can cause cravings for sweets and carbs and ultimately sabotage your hCG Diet if not controlled. Below is a tip from the author of the essential E-Book: Guide to Implementing The Weight Loss Cure.

“If you are craving sweets or carbs, Victoria can help you, regardless of how mild or severe your cravings or other Candida-related symptoms are. Through years of research and much trial and error, she has developed a protocol that works every time. She works with people around the world to get rid of an overgrowth of Candida. www.CandidaExpert.com is her website. I have worked out a discount for all HCG dieters for free shipping.”

Tags: book, candida, carb cravings, cravings, diet tips, hcg diet, hcg dieters, protocol, Stress Management, sugar cravings, The Weight Loss Cure, Weight Loss

Detoxing While on the hCG Diet - Increase Your Weight Loss

by hCG Diet Info — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:35:11 +0000

While losing weight on the hCG diet, fat stored toxins are being released into the blood stream, including heavy metals. A permitted detox product such as Natural Cellular Defense (NCD), helps to rid these toxins, safely, effectively, without risk of stalling.

Zeolite is a liquid dietary supplement, listed as having FDA GRAS status: gsaresources.com under 21 CFR Part 582.2729. Order individually or order NCD Zeolite from www.MyWaiora.com/672230 at a discount by becoming a distributor.

More options for cleansing:
Organica Research
Ultimate Colon Cleanse

Tags: cleanse, colon cleanse, Detox, hcg diet, organica research, product, products, Supplements

My 80lb Weight Loss with the hCG Diet

by hCG Diet Info — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:52:38 +0000

“How I did it… Step by Step to my 80lb weight loss.

1. HCG Diet: Dr. Simeons 500 calorie diet with daily hCG injections of 200 units of hCG under a doctor’s supervision.

2. Yoga and Pilates, walking- Anything to keep my heart pumping for a minimum of 15 minutes a day. (Felt great doing this a few times throughout the day!)

3. Alkalized. Added a glass of Super Green tea (30 lbs of vegetables in one alfalfa-scented, room temp tea- there is a banner in the side of this page- sorry I couldn’t find a text link!) to my diet and Alkalizing drops to my water. I find this has an incredible effect on my appetite, energy levels, and mood. It also takes a few years off the skin!

4. Increased calories through vegetables and negative calorie, organic, raw foods. Increased exercise to 30 minutes a day, sometimes twice a day.

5. Exercised frequently. Diet high in fiber (30-35 grams daily) and alkalized. At this point, I stopped thinking about what I can and can’t eat- it just became second-nature to eat healthy.
6. I went shopping- I needed an entire new wardrobe.
Read the full story here.

Energize With Anthony Robbins - Super Greens by Inner Balance