How Did You Hear About the hCG Diet Protocol?

I am researching how people found out about the hCG Diet Protocol.  How did you find out about it?  What made you decide to do it?  Please post your comments below.



Thanks for your answers/comments!
Angela

Day 13 hCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons / Kevin Trudeau

For today's post I am just going to share the video I posted to YouTube.  Watch and find out what that 2 mile walk did for my weigh in... (seriously... I do not know what is up with my face)



Until Next Time,
Angela

Day 12 of the hCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons / Kevin Trudeau: Energy and Euphoria

I didn't post last night, so I will recap my day yesterday.  I woke up and found that I had lost .6 pounds... yes!  I am definitely not the biggest loser, but I am a happy one.  How else can you lose a half a pound a day?  Just because I am not losing a pound a day like many other women, I am keeping a reality check going and am very grateful for where I am at.  We are all different with all different histories.  I know my system was so out of whack - constant fatigue, fibromyalgia, painful joints, listless, low energy, etc.  Even if I lost no weight at all, but corrected all of that through this process, I am a happy camper indeed.

As you know I struggled the first 8 or so days really bad.  I wouldn't quit, but I felt like quitting big time.  It was so hard.  I had headaches, bodyaches, nausea, hunger pangs, etc.  At that point I upped my dose of hCG and I've been flying high since.  I don't experience any of that any more, not even hunger, and I have energy galore.  I do feel quite euphoric at times.  I have fought depression symptoms a big chunk of my life, as well as fibromyalgia, so the day to day of life is hard for me if I let it be.  I can't even remember when I felt this good.  Perhaps not since my early teens.  I'm 33 now.

I've also hinted that I have been trying to conceive for 2.5 years now.  I did get pregnant once, but that pregnancy ended just a few short weeks later in a miscarriage.  I've always known that I needed to do something to 'fix' my whacked out body, but I never knew what the solution was.  Now I'm only 13 days into this, but I knew it was the answer before I even started when I first started investigating it.  It just resonated with my spirit.  This is all coming from someone who has 'only' lost a total of 5 pounds in 13 days.  It's because it's not just about the pounds for me.  It's about the re-balancing and resetting of my whacked out system.

Yesterday I had SO much energy that I just had to exercise.  I just had to.  So I walked 2 miles.  I thought I wouldn't make it a mile (I don't ever exercise).  With each lap I gained more and more energy, it's like something took over and I was flying.  It was effortless and euphoric (I know I've been using that word a lot, but I don't know how else to encapsulate the feeling).  I finally stopped, only because I wasn't sure how it was going to affect the diet.  Though it's not just about the pounds for me, I still want to lose them!

I've got to go for now, and will make you wait to find out just what walking 2 miles did for my weigh in results this morning... ;-)

Until Next Time,
Angela

Day 11 of the HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons / Kevin Trudeau: Feeling Great!

I woke up today earlier than normal, emptied my bladder, and then weighed myself.  The scale showed 140.6, which meant only a .2 loss.  Bummed and still tired, I went back to bed.  I woke up hours later, emptied my bladder again, weighed myself again, and the scale showed 139.9... yippee!!!!  So I am counting a .7 loss for today.

After I weighed myself the first time this morning I started running through my day yesterday and remembering everything I ate.  I did have about a half a tablespoon too much of milk.  I knew I was doing it when I did it, but thought for sure it wouldn't matter.  And remembering back to the day I actually had a .5 pound gain, I did the same thing.  So, I've noticed the trend and nipping that one in the bud.  Right now.  I can definitely live without the milk.  I mean, why blow it and make all your other efforts go in vain?  ...so not worth it!

As you know my first 9 days of injections were torture for me.  I am here to tell you, HANG IN THERE!  Seriously, after upping my injections, life has gotten so much better, and even a bit euphoric.  I totally do not experience the hunger pangs at all anymore.  I don't think there is any downside to taking too much, but I've heard, just to preserve your investment, take only as much as you need to in order to not feel hungry through the day.  So, you may have to play with what that number is for you.  I recommend just upping it a few units a day until you've got it just right.

I'm really enjoying having so much more energy and feeling really great.  I feel cleaned out on the inside, and light.  I also feel very focused and clear.  I'm really loving this.

Until Next Time,
Angela

Day 10 HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons and Kevin Trudeau: Breakthrough

What a great morning to wake up and discover that I lost... drum roll please... 1.2 pounds from yesterday!!!  It's the most I've lost in one day yet.  I can most assuredly attribute it to two things:  drinking the extra water, and upping my hCG injection to 20 units.  I also went on a 15 minute walk, so I don't know if that contributed or not since I probably burned some extra calories.

The day started out great and continued to be great.  I don't know if it is because of the increased hCG or what, but I felt semi-euphoric and lively today... a really great switch from the listlessness I have been feeling.  I had lots of energy and little hunger issues.  I'm hoping that continues.

Check out the fabulous lunch my hubby made for us:

We had shrimp lettuce wraps with green onions and cilantro, flavored with Real Salt and Real Seasoning and drops of lemon juice.  It was so amazingly good.

Around 9pm I was feeling like I needed something sweet.  I had a fruit left to eat so I was going to make a strawberry drink.  I put frozen strawberries in my Osterizer blender and it broke at the bottom while blending and the strawberries shot out everywhere, all over my nice white sweater, countertops and floor up to ten feet away.  Boo.  Now I still have a hankering.

By the way, my hubby lost 3 pounds today.  He is doing amazingly well - he's lost 18 pounds in the ten days since we started.  I try not to get jealous.  To put it in perspective, today he lost almost the whole same amount of weight I've lost since day 1 before binge. :-(  It took me a couple of days to lose the binge weight and then I've never lost a full pound until today, and, of course, even had the one day of weight gain (was that yesterday?).  It's all good though.  I'm still a believer.

Until Next Time,
Angela

Day 9 HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons and Kevin Trudeau: Yes... finally!

This morning I did a half dreaded and half excited walk to the scale.  I had gained .5 pounds yesterday, so I wasn't too sure what to expect.  Thankfully, I lost 1 pound!  Yes!!!  It was much needed encouragement.  I am a believer in drinking all your water, I totally attribute it to that.  Another fabulous thing is that I upped my dose of hcg injection from just under 15 to 20, because of the extreme hunger pangs I have been experiencing.  WOW.  What a difference.  Perhaps it's just coincidence, because it is day 9 after all.  Coincidence or not, I am sticking with 20 units for the rest of the way.  I may even experiment with 25, just to see.  I so did not experience the hunger pangs today and I had more energy.  So if you are struggling with hunger, or low energy, just try upping your dose by 5 units or so per day to see if your results get better.  I'm so happy about these results - I really needed something to give.

I have high hopes for the scale tomorrow ;-)  Of course, I'll let you know.

Until Next Time,
Angela

Day 8 HCG Diet Protocol: .5 pound gain

Big bummer this morning.  I got on the scale and was back up to 143.  I've gained .5 pounds.  What gives?  Here's what I'm thinking.  I searched online for 'hcg diet recipes' and found many great recipes, including one I had last night.  It was steak in the crockpot with beef broth, onion soup mix, pepper, and green onions.  Boy was it GOOD.  Best meal I've had so far on the VLCD.  That is all I did different... so was it the extra fat from the steak sitting in the crockput and mixing in with the broth that sucked down as soup with the beef?  Was it the onion soup mix?  I don't know for sure.  Perhaps I put a little more than a tablespoon of nonfat milk in my herbal tea (which I've decided is ablsolutely distgusting... why have the milk at all if you can't have all the yummy goodness of cream?).  I'm still not totally sure what the deal is, but here is my warning... be careful about online recipes just because it has the term 'hcg' associated with it.

My severe frustration only made me stronger, and I was resolute in drinking as much of the two liters of water that I could today.  I am so not a huge drinker, so this is and has been a challenge for me.  It's almost 11pm and I drank just over 1.5 liters.  I'm happy with that - it's much better than I have been doing.  We'll see if that makes a difference in my weight loss tomorrow morning.  By the way, two standars size water bottles equal one liter, four equal two liters (which is the minimum we are supposed to drink), eight bottles equal 1 gallon.  I had to figure this out to give myself an idea of how many water bottles I would have to drink.  It's less than I would have guessed.

I will say I am still so tempted by all kinds of food - shoot, I'm even tempted by food I would never have been interested in before this diet!  I saw a guy walk out of 7-11 with a hot dog and I gawked as he walked by.  My hubs and I went to a movie tonight (saw Love Happens) and when we walked out afterward they were just popping new popcorn.  I felt like for sure their was a conspiracy against us.  How dare they tempt us with all the yummy fresh popcorn smells!  On our way home, we saw a sign for a chocolate party, "tonight at 8pm".  Are you kidding me?  I think Dr. Simeons should have mandatory binge days after the protocol.  ;-)

Tomorrow I am upping my injection of hcg.  Right now I am taking between 12 and 15 units.  I am bumping it to 20.  I saw a YouTube video of someone else struggling with massive hunger like I am and that is what someone recommended to her.  Unfortunately she didn't post a follow up for us to know how that went, but you can be sure I will let you know if that does the trick for me.

Okay, wish me luck for tomorrow!

Angela

Day 7 HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons and Kevin Trudeau

Sorry I haven't posted the last two days... I've been too CRANKY!  I am SO hungry and nauseated.  I keep reading and hearing that people feel great on this hcg diet... not me.  But am I giving up?  NO!  I totally believe in the principles and logic of the diet as explained by Dr. Simeons in his booklet Pounds and Inches (you can download it for free in my Recommended Links area).  I am going to push through.

This HCG Guide has been super helpful to me with regard to anything HCG including, why it works, step-by-step instructions, common problems, what you can expect, etc.

Here is my latest YouTube video.  Please don't mind the 'no makeup' look... ;-):



Stats:
Start Weight: 144
Binge Gain: 4
Current Weight: 142
Overall Loss: 2 pounds

Until Next Time,
Angela

Day 4 of the HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons / Kevin Trudeau: Weak, Subdued, Cranky

Okay, seriously, I should just go crawl into a hole or go to bed.  I'm feeling so cranky today.  I'm soooo hungry.  Well, I was soooo hungry until I just tried a recipe that I found for an orange cream smoothie!  (One orange, blended with a handful of ice, add in about 6 drops of Vanilla Stevia, or Regular Stevia and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract, blend again*)  Delicious!  It was so just the thing I needed to pick me up.  I needed something sweet and this totally did the trick.

Last night I slept for over 12 hours.  I haven't done that in a loooong time, but I guess my body needed it.  It was great!  I haven't been nauseous or headachey today, just weak and tired and cranky.  I read all these bloggers and testimonials of people saying they aren't hungry at all on this... I'm praying I get there SOON cuz I will not lie, I am hungry! 

So this morning when I took my injection I had a bubble in there that I couldn't flick out.  I was a little worried about it, but remembered my friend telling me that it's not like we are injecting into our veins, so a little bubble shouldn't hurt.  Just letting you know in case you experience the same.

Besides the restricted calories, the hardest things for me so far is drinking enough water, and not being able to use lotions and such.  I did read somewhere that you can use Carmex for your lips so I am stoked about that and will be buying it out my lips have been so dry.  Corn Huskers lotion is oil free and I've been using that on my legs and loving it.  You can also use 100% Aloe Vera Gel, which okay, too.  I'm still looking for something great for my face and eyes.  Any suggestions?

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I lost 3 of the 4 pounds I gained on the binge days!!!  Here are my stats:

Starting Weight: 144 pounds

Binge Weight Gain: 4 pounds
Current Weight: 145 pounds
Starting Waist Size: 38 inches (around the belly button)
Current Waist Size: 38 inches

Until Next Time,
Angela

*the recipe for the orange cream smoothie came from HCG Recipes.

Day 3 of HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons: Famished

Okay, so it's really my own fault.  I didn't plan my day well at all regarding having to make my own food and being home.  I basically starved until lunch at 1:30pm, and even then I only ate some chicken... no vegetable, no fruit, no bread stick.  Surprisingly though, the chicken satisfied the hunger pangs in my stomach.  Dinner followed suit, though, I didn't eat dinner until after 7pm.  Though I didn't have hunger pangs and my stomach didn't growl at all, I felt empty and famished.  I ate a super yummy steak with garlic and onion powder (is that even allowed???), two helpings of spinach (since I could make up for lunch) for a salad with lemon juice and a crushed up Melba Toast.  For 'dessert' afterward, I ate a one slice of an apple, and a cup of herbal tea with Stevia.

I feel pretty good now that I've eaten - just a remaining headache that I'm hoping I will sleep off.  Anyone know if you can take asprin?  I definitely did not drink all the water I should have (maybe only 3/4's of a liter), so I'll try more water tomorrow to prevent another headache.

My husband is doing this hcg protocol, too.  He went to bed at 7pm, without dinner, because he wasn't feeling well at all.  His symptoms were nausea and light-headedness.  He didn't have the nasea the first two days like I did, and I didn't have it today... interesting.  I really, really hope tomorrow is a better day for him so we can keep going on this together.  Last night we took our 'before' pictures... oh, my... I still don't know if I will have the courage to share them with the world :-)  Maybe when I am at my goal weight and take my 'after' pictures I'll feel more courageous!

I can tell that I am going to get bored with eating the same foods over and over.  I'm going to have to do some scouring to see if I can find hcg recipes online. 

I gained four pounds on the binge days, three the first day and only one the next.  I just weighed myself (7:45pm) and I weigh the same as I did this morning - so I'm sure I'll wake up in the morning and find that I've lost a pound or two of weight... hoping.  Of course I'll let you know.

Well, I'm off to get in bed myself and read "New Moon".  Now that the movie is coming out at the end of the month I feel compelled to read the book before I see it.  It's that perfect cheesy, easy read that is nice to unwind to at the end of a busy day ;-)

Goodnight!
Angela

Day 2 of the HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons - Binge Day

Okay, seriously, I am SO glad this binge is OVER!  I feel so sick and full and disgusting.  This morning I got on the scale and had gained three pounds from yesterday... so I guess I'm doing something right.  I totally understand the logic behind the binge, and that is that you need to store up on the fats to carry you through the Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) days.  It has been hard to eat too much today, because I think the hcg is making me feel full.  I'm very much looking forward to eating light and healthy.

Today someone told me I looked "glowy".  Too funny.  Could the hcg really be making me look "glowy" already (or at all?)?  It is the pregnancy hormone...

I didn't feel queasy all day today until about an hour ago.  It's almost 9pm and I just feel so stuffed and sick.  I'm hoping that queasiness will fade off on the VLCD.

Here is my You Tube post from this morning:



Until Next Time,
Angela

Day 1 of the HCG Diet Protocol by Dr. Simeons

Come follow me on my HCG journey! I promise you a real and honest look into my journey with any and all challenges and victories. I so appreciated being able to find others who took this journey and I hope that I, too, can provide hope and inspiration. Though this is my first day on the Protocol, I obviously have full confidence in it... as I'm already calling it the 'miracle diet'. After reading Pounds and Inches by Dr. Simeons, reading blogs and watching videos of others who have done it, I am certain that this is the hope that people are searching for.

What I love is that it is time-tested (developed in the 50's, I think), natural, and a proven cure for obesity. It is also proven to get rid of that last 10 pounds that already thin people can't seem to work off. Something changed in me when I hit 30... I changed nothing about my lifestyle but my body seemed to start packing on the pounds. I'm 33 now, and in the meantime have gained 24 pounds. I've tried dieting and exercising, but any weight loss was insignificant and temporary. Also, I couldn't stand the idea of fad diets.

I think my body has held onto a lot of stress and my hormones are all out of balance. What I love about hcg is that it resets your system, like a computer reboot, and puts you back into balance. It makes perfect sense to me and am sold 100% - so much that I am putting it out there on my first day of the protocol that I am completely confident that I will lose the 24 pounds I've gained over the last few years.

I've also tried conceiving over the last 2.5 years resulting only in a short-term pregnancy that ended in miscarriage in May of 2009. I have come to believe that I've had trouble conceiving due to my body being too acidic and too stressed out, and for the same reasons my short pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Since hcg is the hormone naturally created when a woman conceives, it makes sense that it is very healing and sustaining to the body. According to Dr. Simeons, it is not uncommon for women who have had trouble in the past to conceive after being on the protocol. I'm really, really, really hoping that this will be a side benefit for me as well. Having trouble conceiving is a whole other journey and topic that I know so many women can relate to. Maybe this will prove to help...? I do know that hcg is used to treat fertility in certain circumstances, but in much larger doses than what is used for weight loss purposes.

Anyways... I am going to keep a video journal as well. Here is my first one:



Please feel free to comment and ask questions.

Until next time,
Angela