Originally Posted by celstu1 (Post 3122767)

Negative side effects: The common side effects include headaches, mood swings, depression, blood clots, confusion, and dizziness. Some women also develop a condition called Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS); symptoms of this include pelvic pain, swelling of the hands and legs, stomach pain, weight gain, shortness of breath, diarrhea, vomiting/nausea, and/or urinating less than normal.

Originally Posted by celstu1 (Post 3123828)

Hey that's fine... you shouldn't take offense to what I posted, it was an article I read, matching a few different articles all stating pretty much the same thing. It was informational and not directed at you or anyone else.... that's it.

Originally Posted by mojo (Post 3124685)

Is that fat loss, or water loss or ?? I did not know you could lose that much weight in such a short period of time. Amazing. I've lost 15 pounds, but that has been over 5 months and restricting calories a lot. Anything else I have tried hasn't worked. I exercise and end up gaining weight - seriously.
I would almost be tempted to try this, but I take quite a few medications. Did you guys say you can't take any meds/vitamins while on this??

Originally Posted by maryeverett1 (Post 3123753)

I have been on this diet since Thursday and have lost lbs already. I can tell you that I have a personal trainers certificate and an undergrad in fitness management and I am also under the care of a doctor while on this diet. I have tried working out twice a day, weight watchers, Jenny Craig and never had this great of a result before. I do not and would never have an "eating disorder" and there is a serious maintenance phase after you come off the 20-48 days of hcg. In times past it has taken me 2 months to lose this amount of weight and I felt hungry and discouraged. I do not feel hungry on this diet and am even eating more than the 500 calories he suggests. I ate around 800 yesterday because that's what I needed and lost 3.3lbs between yesterday and today. There is much truth to what he says about toxins in our daily life and diet and basically this is no sugar, protein, veggies and water. And no normally nobody could even do a 500 calorie diet for a week...I know I sure couldn't. But with the addition of the hcg my hunger is not there and I am able to eat things that are clean and healthy. I plan on staying on this diet for 20-48 days depending on how fast it takes me to lose the weight I want to lose. I also struggle with a severe uterian disease and the hcg is helping with my pain level. Not quite sure why some of you are resisting the idea of this being healthy especially if some of us are under doctor supervision. You don't have to believe that it is healthy but for people considering gastric bypass (not me but my mom) this is way healthier than having your stomach chopped up and never being able to eat normal again and dumping all the time. I think that why people struggle with weight is because of lack of good choices and the need for a lifestyle change but it is also discouraging to work so hard and never see any results! I don't plan to go back to the choices I was making and this has already radically changed the way I view what it possible for me and what choices I will make in the future to keep this weight off!

Originally Posted by HarrisFamily (Post 3125695)

My grandma is doing this diet but I don't know how much she's lost or how seriously she sticks with it, I know when I've seen her she is eating normally, but that's usually at family get togethers.

I've got 10 pounds left to lose, I'm down 18 since November. I've thought about taking it, but just with the weight loss than I've seen ( I lost 20 more pounds in 2008/2009) I've got loose skin. And I'm 27 and wasn't ever really overweight. It would be so nice to lose the last 10 before Memorial Day and bathing suit time, but I'm afraid it will make the skin even worse.

Viv- You aren't supposed to work out on the hcg diet, you aren't eating enough calories to support exercise. I eat between 1200-1500 calories a day and then go over on the weekends, and I workout out about 40-60 minutes a day with Jillian Michaels workouts or some running. Calorie counting is slow, but it's so worth it. And it has really helped me to be able to change the way I look at food, I think I will be able to maintain pretty easily after I'm at my goal now that I know more about what to eat and what not to eat.