Jen’s HCG Diet Success Story

HDI has seen millions of HCG Diet success stories over the years. This is my own, and the reason I ultimately started this site. I personally lost 90 lbs on the HCG Diet in 2002, and used various supplements and medical weight loss products to help maintain my weight and improve my health.

After having a baby in 2017, I lost another 40 pounds using hCG and medical weight loss by Diet Doc (Read my pro review here.)

My Personal HCG Diet Success Story…

In 2002, I found myself weighing over 240 lbs and wearing a size 20 (and it was tight!)  Less than a year later, I had lost 90 lbs following the HCG Diet Plan and kept it off for over 10 years.

In 2014, I had a baby and used Hcg and medical weight loss products to lose over 40 pounds of pregnancy weight (and surprisingly fast.)  This is why, and how I did it….

My Story

When I was in high school, I was already struggling with my weight.  Even though I was a devoted, star-level athlete, I struggled with eating disorders and always seemed to be quite a bit curvier than my friends.  I didn’t realize then just how I was setting myself up for serious weight problems as I got older.

Out of high school, I gained over 100 pounds in the first year.  I was miserable.  I went on a starvation diet and forced myself to run every day until I lost the weight… even though I hated running. 

A few years later, I had gained all of the weight back and more (240 pounds, plus a few cheeseburgers.)

I went back and forth on crash diets; Weight Watchers, Atkins, 1200 calorie madness diets, and just about every other diet imaginable… until one day, I was talking with a friend.

You know that friend we all have; she’s a slender, graceful girl that looks great in a bikini without having to suck her stomach in.  Ya, that’s the one. We’ll call her Sylvia (because that’s her name.)

While we were sitting in a circle with all of our friends, someone passed a can of Pringles to her. 

I watched her take ONE out carefully, and then casually turn the can and read the label while eating the chip.  After she finished the chip, she passed the can along and never had another. 

I asked her if that was how she kept her figure- if she was just an extremely careful and healthy eater.  She laughed.  She said, “Believe it or not, I was once extremely overweight.”  I couldn’t believe it!

My size 2 friend went on to tell me how she had once been close to 200 lbs.  I asked how she had turned it around. 

She shared how a doctor she worked with, had suggested she try this little-known “Simeons Diet” and he would prescribe it for her. 

I had never heard of this at the time but I asked her every detail I could think of.  

The next day I began calling Doctors asking if they could oversee this “Simeons Diet” using HCG.   It wasn’t easy back then.

 There was 0 information online about this mystery diet and 99% of the doctors I talked to weren’t familiar enough to give it a go.   After weeks and weeks of research and phone calls, I finally found one that agreed.

I wasn’t given the exact Simeons protocol, but close… with quite a few variations that I felt comfortable with. The doctor adjusted my HCG injection dosage based on my current weight. He had me on 200 iu daily. 

(Just a note here: My prescribed protocol varied from the original, yet it still worked great, just as many other modern protocol variations.)

My diet, I kept to a modified version of the Simeons original food list based on my friend’s suggestions as well as what I felt comfortable with.  I had a several salads a day.  My go-to food was a spinach salad with fat free turkey pepperoni, vegan pepper jack rice cheese, cherry tomatoes (very few and not all the time,) occasional spices, and Braggs Amino acids (sprayed on with a dressing sprayer, not poured). 

I was shocked-  I was not hungry at all, and I found myself craving salad for the first time in my life.  I would also have green beans and shrimp for dinner, also with Braggs and seasoning.  I was extremely careful with my portion sizing.  

I would have melba toast as a snack or broken up in one of my salads like croutons.  In the mornings, I stuck with eggs and hot sauce.

I did not stick to 500 calories. In fact, I ate more than this, but the majority of my calories came from vegetables.

If I was hungry, I ate. I would just make sure I it was usually one of the aforementioned salads.

I exercised regularly, going to the gym and doing at least 40 minutes of low impact cardio daily- walking or elliptical.  I focused on how good it made me feel rather than my old approach of “I have to do this.” 

In the beginning it did not feel comfortable but I kept telling myself how much easier it would get and how great I would look and feel if I just kept at it.  

I was right.

The weight started coming off within a few days and did not stop.  I was so motivated at this point, that I started really loving what I was eating and going to the gym.

During the first round, 28 days, I had lost 26 lbs.

It took me 4 rounds to lose 88 lbs.

For over 10 years, my weight has fluctuated slightly, here and there, but never in excess.

My metabolism has remained strong and my eating habits became instinctively healthy.  I still love salads.  I am not overly interested in processed foods like breads and cereals.  I love staying active but I opt for activities that I enjoy rather than going to the gym with the mindset of “I have to work out.”

When I think back, I am still amazed at how simple the entire process was and how the transition phase and maintenance phase were even more simple. 

I am so extremely grateful to my beautiful friend Sylvia, (still a size 2 after two children, 20+ years later!) who introduced me to the Hcg Diet. 

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t consider just how grateful I am for the body I now have and the lifestyle that comes with it. 

As I said, I was originally on the HCG Diet in 2002 and at the time there were absolutely no websites online about the diet plan. No online guidance, and blogs did not yet exist.  

I started a an online support group to see if others were out there.  I soon found I had a growing member list of people desperately trying to learn about the diet.

 I decided to start a website based on all of our pieced-together knowledge and the help from my doctor.  

I started the “HCG Diet Info” website and the rest is exciting history: over 100 million visits later, HDI continues to be the leading authority on the HCG Diet Plan.

UPDATE: MY POST BABY WEIGHT LOSS EXPERIENCE:

In 2014, I had a beautiful baby boy…. and with him, came 40+ pounds of pregnancy weight! After having my baby, I decided to explore different options.

Here is what I did:

I initially used the HCG diet from Diet Doc, a modern Hcg Diet approach, and then used various medical products (less rigid approaches) to lose the final pounds and maintain (lipotropics, B12 shots, Semaglutide, etc.)

In detail:

I tried the original protocol. I tried a rogue approach, and I also tried several peptide weight loss products and really tested to see what I felt worked well for myself, and what would work for my readers.

I started with HCG Dieting, post-breastfeeding.  Exploring all the different options and taking well planned breaks between rounds, it took me about 7 months to lose the weight.

My takeaway was that Diet Doc was a great option for when I had a large amount of weight to lose; which ultimately led to me recommending them on this site.

Here are my other takeaways:

The original protocol works beautifully, but it is rigid, and there is little room for error, or exploring. While this did give me the best results, I enjoyed the slower-loss, easier approach more; I ate similarly to the first time I was on the diet, where I mixed vegetables, focused on eating a lot of greens, and wasn’t overly strict with my calories. If I was hungry, I ate.

I also exercised still. The original protocol allows only 500 calories and no exercise. This just didn’t feel good to me, so I went ahead and upped my calories, while continuing with light exercise; walking, occasionally jogging, and yoga or pilates.

My foods included plenty of vegetables, lean chicken and no sugar. I did add fruit this time, which was something I had not eaten the first time around.

I also included additional products and a lower dose of HCG. I took 125 iu of HCG daily, beginning with Phase 1, Loading days. I added B12 for energy, and during my breaks between rounds, I would add lipotropic fat-burning injections. I occasionally added other supplements as needed; for example, I was fine using an appetite suppressant as needed; at the start of a round when I was struggling etc.

This is just what worked for me. During this time, I had also experienced severe tragedies in my family, including losing my baby sister to domestic violence. Adding stress to that grief, I struggled when I returned to school to finish my PhD.

Needless to say, I was learning to adapt through grief, stress, emotional turmoil and endless up’s and down’s. It ultimately gave me countless lessons and helped me to figure out what would work for me even as “life happens.”

I share these experiences through my blog, which you can find here:

 Jen’s Blog

Read More HCG Diet success stories.

After the HCG Diet – MY Story Continued

I get asked about my transition phase so much, I thought I’d add my own experience going from Phase 2 to a normal life.

I realize the importance of how I transitioned my diet from starting with HCG diet shots and the VLCD (very low calorie diet) to everyday life.  I didn’t just swap back to my pre-HCG weight loss days.  Instead, I continued with the original Dr. Simeons protocol but added calories through vegetables and liquidy foods (think low-sugar greek yogurt and sugar-free smoothies.)

I learned the importance of keeping the body’s ph balance alkaline and added related supplements to my diet, including vegetable teas (Amazing Grass Superfoods supplements are in my water at all times- In fact, I highly recommend vegetable and alkalizing supplements. 

Also, I always make sure I get at least 30 grams of fiber daily, either through high fiber raw foods or supplements.  My daily food intake include omega eggs, strawberries, avocados, spinach… I tend to blend more than cook actually.  Vegetable & fruit smoothies are a staple in my life. In fact, I try to add vegetables or fruit to every meal and eat at least one apple a day, whether I feel like it or not.

I also love to exercise.  In the past, I hated exercise.  It was something I HAD TO DO, rather than enjoyed.  Well, guess what?  Exercise as a healthier person, just doesn’t feel like exercise-it actually feels really great to move and be active.  I also  stopped thinking, “I really need to go to the gym and stay on that treadmill for no less than an hour.”  Instead, I started thinking about what feels good.  I just get on the treadmill and go- who cares about time!  If it’s 10 minutes or 2 hours- whatever feels good!  It became soooo simple.

I initially started with stretching and yoga, which turned to Pilates and Barre.  Pilates turned to the occasional stroll on the treadmill or around the block.  I am not joking, but within a few months, I became addicted to the gym and “moving.”  Not because I had to, but because it felt good.

I went to Puerto Vallarta 6 months after my first Hcg Diet experience.  I found myself hitting the gym at the resort every time I was a bit bored and felt just incredible.  It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I had lost weight on vacation. Who LOSES weight on vacation???  It honestly never occurred to me that I had to exercise-  I was just doing what felt good.

I think I discovered the bottom line is just doing what feels good for your mind, your body and your emotional well-being:  Essentially, doing nothing, feels bad and keeps you feeling bad.  Doing something keeps you moving forward and feeling great.

My before and after pictures are posted in the photo gallery of the HCG Diet Forums.

I hope this story and these photos help to motivate and inspire others.  I’ve now lost  90 lbs and kept the weight off since 2002.  I still love going to the gym, I still eat moderately and I rarely think of what I can and can’t eat.  I can honestly say that hcg was what I needed to change my life- it was the gateway to my healthy lifestyle.

My Blog

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“How I did it… Step by Step

1. HCG Diet: Dr. Simeons 500 calorie diet with daily HCG injections of 200 units of hcg.
2. Yoga and Pilates, walking- Anything to keep my heart pumping for a minimum of 20 minutes a day. (Felt great doing this a few times throughout the day!)
3. Alkalizing.  I added a glass of Super Greens diet supplement (30 lbs of vegetables in one alfalfa-scented serving. It’s not that bad, I promise!) 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!  (Anytime someone tells me alkalizing is a scam, I laugh- I go by how I feel and I feel fantastic when I’m following this regimen.)
4. Increased calories through vegetables and negative calorie, organic, raw foods. Increased exercise to 40 minutes a day, sometimes twice a day.
5. Exercised frequently.  Diet is 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 because my clothes no longer fit!

Read Jen’s Blog