Embarking on a Diet

I've been overweight my whole adult life and most of my adolescent life. Since I turned 12 years old, I don't think I've ever been smaller than a size 14. When I was 23-ish I had a life changing event (diagnosed with fibromyalgia and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and lost over 70 pounds, taking me down to a size 14 again. Slowly, over the space of 6 years, the weight has come back. Part of that is due to a lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle. Part of that is a side effect of taking the prednisone for my eczema. Now, I'm back to the weight I was when I lost it all and I hate it. Though I could stay this way, it's not healthy and it causes more health problems for me.

One of my fellow student/friends mentioned a new diet she had gone on to lose her baby weight. I consulted my doctor and she gave me a few precautions, but said she thought it would be a good idea if diet and exercise weren't working well for me, which they weren't. It's called the hCG diet. This is a pregnancy hormone that they render from pregnant women's urine. Gross, I know. The theory is that this hormone saturates your blood with your stored fat and helps you reduce the unused fat in your body.

This diet consists of (for me) 30 days of injections. For the first 3 injections, while the hormone is building up in your blood, you do what is called loading. You gorge yourself with food. Literally. They advise you to force-feed yourself the most fattening, highly caloric food you can to saturate your blood with food. Then after the 3rd injection, you go down to a 500 calorie, high protein, low carb diet. You don't add any fat to the diet and can only have 1 tbsp of milk and the juice of one lemon. You can add all the seasoning you want as long as it doesn't have added sugar, including vinegar. Yes, select fruits and select veggies are part of this diet.

One of the instructors at the school started this diet while I was still enrolled and I found out today he's lost 17 pounds. Very promising. This diet continues for 3 days after the injections, to allow the hormone to be removed from the body, then you resume eating normally with no starches and no sugar for 3 weeks afterward. Then you can begin slowly adding the starches and sugar back in moderation, monitoring your weight closely. If you gain more than 2 pounds after your weight stabilizes, you remove whatever you added or reduce it until you're back to your baseline weight.

I'm excited to start this! I think this just might be what helps me drop the pounds, get my weight back into line and help me become more active, so I don't need a "diet aid" when I try to lose more weight. Wish me luck!