I have seen a lot of bad diets over the years, but hCG Diet sets the new standard for irresponsibility. If you thought 1000-1200 calories a day was tough to handle, your head will spin – and your stomach will growl – if you try to follow this 500 calorie a day torture test.
The 500 calorie intake is supplemented by daily hCG hormone injections over the 26-40 day period of the diet. hCG is a hormone produced by the placenta and feeds the fetus during pregnancy by tapping into stored fat if the mother isn’t eating enough. The twisted thinking behind the hCG diet is that the body is “tricked” into thinking it’s pregnant by the combination of the hCG and the starvation diet so that the body taps into its fat stores for energy and nutrition. Paging Dr. Mengele…
Here is the hCG diet protocol, which is advertised to help lose 1-2 pounds per day, “the healthy way.”
- Breakfast – Tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar and only one tablespoonful of milk allowed in 24-hours. Saccharin or Stevia may be used.
- Lunch – 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab or shrimp. All visible fat must be trimmed off before cooking and e meat must be weighed raw. It must be boiled or grilled without any additional fat. Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed. The chicken breast must be removed from the bird.
- One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.
- One breadstick or one Melba toast.
- An apple, orange or a handful of strawberries or one-half grapefruit.
- Dinner – The same choices as lunch.
Doesn’t this sound like fun?!? Just a scant few calories more than are contained in your morning bowl of Cheerios and milk is supposed to be enough for a full day. What’s the difference between Water Boarding and the hCG Diet? Water Boarding is a more enjoyable experience. Seriously, Amnesty International should get on board with issue, because this is a clearcut example of torture and the violation of human rights, especially towards women who clearly are the target of this rubbish. There are some other hCG Diet guidelines worth mentioning. Read these with a Nazi accent for extra impact.
- The 500 calorie limit must always be maintained.
- 2 small apples are not an acceptable exchange for “1 apple.”
- Very occasionally we allow egg – boiled, poached or raw – to patients who develop an aversion to meat, but in this case they must add the white of three eggs to the one they eat whole.
- Cottage cheese made from skimmed milk is available 100 grams may occasionally be used instead of the meat.
And if you weren’t miserable enough, here is the final indignation.
- We do permit the use of lipstick, powder and such lotions as are entirely free of fatty substances.
- We also allow brilliantine to be used on the hair but it must not be rubbed into the scalp.
- Obviously sun-tan oil is prohibited. (MY NOTE: Obviously? Do they think we’re going to chug-a-lug it?)
- Aspirin and birth control are allowed.
- No massage of any kind.
The fact that this diet is enjoying any kind of success and has garnered a following serves as proof that people have totally lost their way when it comes to feeding themselves. This is a barbaric, crude, savage, and inhuman diet. There are no good reason to abide by this nonsense. Stay away from it.
Its only torture when you over eat on a daily basis. I just started this diet and I think its the best diet ive ever tried. I started this at 180 and now im down to 177 and its only day four. I am not starving as you stated earlier. And im motivated to workout even harder & to stay on track. Hunger sets in at midnight, but really I should be in bed sleeping and not staying up so late, but life happens. I realize how much I snack even if its heaylth food. I was constantly just snacking out of bordem, not hunger. When I saw this 500 calorie rule I thought there is no way im going to be able to complete this, but as I begin this journey I see it is possible and I cant wait for my final transormation. I’ve worked so hard to lose the weight gained from pregnancy…I cant wait to just be me and not worry about being judged about my weight. Before this diet I was 255 and I got down to 180 on my own & it was difficult & you get tired. This is something new to keep me on track to reach my goals. Some people need the extra help & trainers and teachers dont always care…you are just another paycheck to them.
My husband and I have just completed this diet over the summer. It has been, by far, the most sustainable and reasonable eating regime and weight loss program we have ever tried. We were not hungry. I lost 18 pounds in 6 weeks and my husband lost 22 in the same time. We have gained only 2 pounds and lose that depending on how responsible we are with our diets. We were on the Cleveland Clinic Esselstyn vegan diet for 3 months. I had to end that regime as I had a gall bladder attack – apparently from no fat in my diet. Very painful!. This diet has been the most astounding success for both of us. I could go on and on but suffice it to say, we are feeling leaner and healthier than we have in 5 years. We are active people who live at 8,000′ in the Colorado Rockies..
This article is rubbish! I’ve been on the HCG diet for approx. 10 days at this point without any problems. I have lost 13.2 lbs. Yes, lost that much weight. I have not been hungry and as long as you eat at your regular meal times and keep to the diet the pounds fall off (or actually you end up peeing a lot).
It’s FANTASTIC. Long ago I was a lean, muscular young woman weighing in at 160 with tremendous endurance. Within the last 7 years I’ve gone from that to 250 lbs!! I tried and tried to keep it off but it hits you like a brick wall. I lost, and kept off, roughly four pounds the old fashion way. Then I ruined my bad knee by re-awakening a previous injury (previously reconstructed ACL tore). Growing larger and uglier was not going to be my fate – I sucked it up, bought HCG after being a longtime skeptic, and went for it.
HCG is not “easy” – it’s a diet, like any diet – but it is strict and it works. You don’t lose 13.2 lbs in 10 days, while only eating 500 calories, and feel this good – or this full – by having someone lie to you.
On that same note, HCG is a PRESCRIPTION DRUG – which means it is not a homeopathic remedy (those folks are the scam artists). Real HCG is derived from the human body and must be obtained by a pharmacy. And if you follow Dr. A.T.W. Simeons protocol you will lose weight (and don’t worry, he’s not making any money off of this since, well, he’s long freakin’ dead and the protocol is FREE online – just search google).
Since HCG is a prescription drug, what responsible physician will give a person a scrip for it when there isn’t a shred of scientific evidence that this regimen is healthy or effective? The info might be free online but HCG certainly isn’t, neither in cost of access.
What I don’t get about people like Ace is that they don’t get that you can lose a lot of weight by consuming only 500 calories per day, without any HGC! Cheaper, easier, but just as dumb.
500 kcal/day diets often leaving you feeling full. Your body goes into a famine mode quickly, and stomach shrinkage over the first few days does the rest. Nothing new there- athletes and actors have been using a severe calorie restriction diets for years.
I’ve lost, and kept off, nearly 100 lbs over the last three and a half years. I’ve had a child since, too. I haven’t gained an ounce back, and I am still losing weight. I’d say it was easy, but it wasn’t: it has involved big changes in lifestyle and outlook, but it’s been worth it. I went from a lump who sat in a chair all day at work and all night at home, eating garbage all the while to someone who is very active and only eats a little garbage. Simple as that. Having done this, I’m 20x healthier than someone who goes from a chair-dwelling lump to a slightly leaner chair-dwelling lump with HGC and 500 kcal/day- I’m more fit and, unlike the HGC chump, I won’t gain the weight back.
A skeptic isn’t convinced by anecdotal evidence, but by the truth. In this case, HGC doesn’t work any more than an ultra low calorie diet would by itself- someone who becomes a true believer because of a single correlation wasn’t a skeptic but a sucker waiting to get conned.
After looking into this diet, it’s rather laughable. First and foremost, I want to be very clear that the human body needs MUCH more than 500 calories a day. A calorie intake that low is, to be blunt, terrible for your body. To save myself from ranting here: the diet works because you’re depriving yoir body to the point of your stomach shrinking.
That’s not healthy.
Also, someone mentioned that “trainers don’t care”, and that people are “just another paycheck” to them, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. As a rather successful personal trainer, I can’t put into words how grateful I am for each client I have, and in return I not only ensure the best results for my clients, but I’m there for them for positive reinforcement as well. When they’re down and out, I pull them up and get them going. A good trainer doesn’t just change a client’s body, they change their client’s lifestyle. They care. Period.