[Grainiary]

So for starters, this is going to be very long. hopefully somebody will find this post & answer soon. (fingers crossed) i started the hcg diet at the end of '10... i was very naive with the diet...i guess i did something right though because on my first 28 days, i lost 22 pounds. but i was eating foods that weren't exactly on the protocol...i did manage to stay in between 500 calories though. see, the thing is, i wasn't aware that you were only supposed to be on hcg for 23-43/46 days at a time...so i ended up doing the VLCD for 2 months (on the 2nd month, i found out i was eating a lot of the wrong foods & started eating the right foods) without any break... i then didn't know that in between rounds you were supposed to wait 3-6 weeks. so i stupidly stopped the diet for a week, then would start again. i did this for 7 months...& developed anorexia.. i became completely obsessed with loosing weight & if the scale went up or if i didn't see a loss, i would cry. i would go 2 or 3 days with only eating an apple & a few ounces of chicken. i actually fainted one time while taking a shower, & got dizzy with heat flashes on a regular basis. i decided to stop hcg... & still eat healthy because even though i was starving myself, i still wasn't at my "ideal" weight... after so long of starving, no matter what i ate..i would gain. so i then started to purge...throwing up everything. even healthy food...well...finally i realized i just couldn't keep this up...i lost 68 pounds all together. & i just missed food. i'm now recovered, & i'm much better. but with recovery came weight gain.. :/ but i wanna do it HEALTHY this time. & a lot of people would say hcg isnt healthy...but the first month when i did it, i felt good. i even worked out everyday. & i lost a lot of weight. so i wanna try it one more time.. stopping phases when i have to. i need to loose 30 pounds. i ordered drops & pellets...i've hesitated to try it cause im so scared of feeling "starved" again or triggering my eating disorders. any advice on how not to feel so hungry? & different recipes to not get in the "everyday, same food, eating rut" ??? any other advice would be appreciated on anything else i mentioned. sorry, it was SO incredibly long...haha. 2 thumbs up for you if you read the whole thing! Thanks again! God bless (:

[StincPriene]

Hi Elena13. I read the whole thing! Yay, me! And my response will probably be just as long if not longer.... I hope you don't mind.
If you binge for the 3 full days when you begin taking the hCG, then you should not feel starved. I sometimes forget to eat when I am on it because I don't feel hungry. I have to make my self eat all 3 meals of the day. The 4th, 5th and 6th days (1st 3 days after binging) are the hardest because your body is adjusting. If you fainted when doing the 500 calories, you may want to eat more of the protein, i.e. larger portions of chicken. My doctor told me she didn't want me dropping down to 500 calories because it is not enough to function....expecially if you are a bigger girl. I, like you, did everything correctly the first month, but the second month (round) I didn't follow it to a 'T' because I started a new job & people would bring snacks to training and I had my son's birthday party...and of course I had to have some cake & ice cream! But I lost a total of 42 pounds but have gained most of it back, if not more! because I ran out and had to order more, then I was trying to get pregnant and didn't know the side effects of being on the hCG and getting pregnant...even though it is the pregnancy hormone (?). Anyway, I'm getting ready to start it again. I haven't decided if I will do it now, or wait until January 1st, 2012. Sorry, I don't have any recipes and totally understand about the "everyday, same food, eating rut". I felt the same way. I just ate salads everyday for my lunch and dinner. Its hard to plan family meals around my diet, so I fixed the usual stuff for my family and I would eat my salad. Good luck to you on your second attempt!!

By the way, did you just join this forum??? Because I did right before I saw your post.

[Nypbscao]

Thank you so much for actually reading it! (: Okay, at least i feel better now cause i dont feel as alone with it all. it's fine if you don't have a lot of answers, i'm just happy someone actually read it. Like you, i'm still unsure if i want to start on January 1st or start this coming up monday... so i have the weekend to load. & yes, i literally just made an account! what a coincidence..lol. It'd be nice to have someone to keep in touch with & to help motivate one another. how much weight do you want to lose when you start again? & do you think eating a larger portion of meat will make me stall or gain? i'm kinda confused on the loading days though..some people say do it for 3, some say for 2.

[hHwJ229h]

i did this for 7 months...& developed anorexia.. i became completely obsessed with loosing weight & if the scale went up or if i didn't see a loss, i would cry. i would go 2 or 3 days with only eating an apple & a few ounces of chicken. i actually fainted one time while taking a shower, & got dizzy with heat flashes on a regular basis. i decided to stop hcg... & still eat healthy because even though i was starving myself, i still wasn't at my "ideal" weight... after so long of starving, no matter what i ate..i would gain. so i then started to purge...throwing up everything. even healthy food...well...finally i realized i just couldn't keep this up...i lost 68 pounds all together. & i just missed food. i'm now recovered, & i'm much better. but with recovery came weight gain.. :/ but i wanna do it HEALTHY this time. & a lot of people would say hcg isnt healthy...but the first month when i did it, i felt good. i even worked out everyday. & i lost a lot of weight. so i wanna try it one more time.. stopping phases when i have to. i need to loose 30 pounds. i ordered drops & pellets...i've hesitated to try it cause im so scared of feeling "starved" again or triggering my eating disorders. any advice on how not to feel so hungry? & different recipes to not get in the "everyday, same food, eating rut" ???

Firstly, welcome Congratulations on your previous weight loss, though I am sorry it came from unhealthy choices.

Secondly, I see you're thinking of diving in now, or waiting for New Years. My advice would be to wait, since Christmas is a fairly brutal time to be wending your way through this protocol. If you wait until New Years you can join my loading group (link is in my signature), which has 70+ members already, so it's going to be a huge group with tonnes of experience to draw from.

I will do the obligatory "read Pounds & Inches" post for you, since I think that tome will help you to get a solid handle on this diet, so you feel more in control of what the protocol is all about, and the rationale for certain aspects of the program.

Hot showers and VLCD are such an easy combination for fainting. I was not pushing myself as hard as you were, but I was very close to going syncopic a few times (mainly because I'm dumb and don't learn from my previous idiocies lol).

I would seriously watch the working out. There's some controversy over losing muscle when working out on VLCD. My own take on it is that I am already massively stressing my body out to lose the weight in something akin to an efficient starvation mode, so I do not want to put added pressure on my body by trying to wring more weight loss out of the same period of time. I would rather give my body time to relax, then hit another round. That being said I, and many others, do recommend walking everyday if you're up to it/able.

Being heavy is not healthy and hCG/VLCD is not healthy. It's a personal choice, at least in my eyes, as to whether the risks are worth accepting the deleterious effects of the other. For me it was an easy choice, but others mileage may vary.

If your dosage is correct then hunger won't be a problem, especially if you're really pushing your water intake.

Embrace the same food rut and instead of trying to make it easier on yourself, go find something else to do with that energy.

Just my 2.4 cents.