It's been about three weeks since my husband, Bill and I began the hCG diet. I've gotten a lot of questions from friends, and even strangers, about the diet. It is a rather extreme program, but we are being supervised by our very capable chiropractor, Dr. Jaison Golojuh. I am confident that this diet is a step in the right direction toward lifelong changes in my family's health. I wrote a post over at Type-A Parent in defense of the hCG diet, explaining my thoughts on the program and why I feel it is right for me. Feel free to take a read. Here are some tangible results you can see, in terms of how Bill and I are doing on the diet so far.

Here's Bill's before and after photos. Wish I were a better photographer because you can really tell how much he's lost by the way his clothes are fitting now. Also, you can really see it in his face. In three weeks, he's lost a total of 17 lbs., though I suspect it's actually more. For some reason, he didn't show any weight lost in the past week. Jaison says sometimes the weight sticks around for a bit and is flushed away a few pounds at a time.

Can you see the difference? Just three weeks ago, I was wearing mostly shapeless pants with elastic waists because they were much more comfortable than my jeans. This week, I'm wearing this pair of size 16 jeans, one size down from my previous size. I am super excited! Here's the numbers

March 21st                                        April 11th

Weight                         247 lbs                                              229 lbs.

Waist                         46 inches                                           42 inches

Body Fat %                  42.3%                                               40.1%

BMI                                38.7                                                  35.9

I've lost 18 lbs. in three weeks! And four inches off my waist. I am so excited, and I'm feeling pretty good. I don't have a great spurt of energy like some say they experiece, but I rarely take naps these days. I used to nap every afternoon. That's right. Every. Single. Afternoon. Do you know how much of my life I've wasted napping? I just couldn't help it. I was so tired and fatigued. This is the step I needed to take to be able to keep up with my kids this summer and really, truly spend time with them. I'm so happy and am indebted to Jaison Golojuh for helping Bill and I to take this journey to health.

I will keep you posted on our progress. There are three weks left in the 500 calories a day regimen, and then we start a three-week maintenance period where we begin to add certain foods back into our diet. I'll tell you more about it when we reach that stage. What are your thoughts on the hCG diet? Would you try it?

If you would, I strongly urge you to do it in conjunction with a medical professional. A friend of mine tried it with drops she bought on the Internet. She said she felt tired all the time and even nearly fainted once, so she quit. Be careful with your health.