I've been on the hCG diet for nearly a week now, not including the two days of fat loading that come at the very beginning of the program. Surprisingly, I'm doing quite well. Better than expected, actually, as I am admittedly a serious sugar addict. As a reminder, the hCG diet only allows you to consume 500 calories a day, no sugar, fat, or starches. Because the hCG hormone causes the unnecessary fat stores to be targeted before essential sources of fat, your body is essentially burning more than the 500 calories you are eating. So, in answer to everyone's primary question, I am not starving.

How I Feel

I will admit that I feel a little hungry at different periods throughout the day. Especially in the morning. I drink a cup or two of coffee with a splash of 2% milk and that's it until lunch. During that time I take a few drops of the Appetite Control by DesBio that I got from my chiropractor, Dr. Jaison Golojuh, and it helps.Many times I don't think that I'm actually hungry, so much as that I just want to eat something. I've developed a bad habit of eating while I'm working at the computer or reading.

Jaison is overseeing the entire program that my husband, Bill, and I are doing. We see Jaison every week to be monitored, measured and weighed. While I haven't noticed the tremendous amount of increased energy people talk about, I am feeling better overall and at least a bit more energetic. I've noticed that my bra is fitting more properly, and my jeans are a bit loose, though I'm not yet able to fit into the size too small jeans I've been pining to wear. But it has only been a week.

What I Eat

I'm actually enjoying this new kind of cooking very much. I'm experimenting with vinegars and spices, and the recipes I've tried so far have been quite good. I will share them in more detail in future posts. I cook a lot of chicken because Bill and I don't care much for fish. We also eat lean steak and beef, but only twice a week. Today, we substituted scrambled eggs for one of our meats. We're permitted two meats, two fruits and two vegetables per day. And lots of water. We can also have coffee and tea, which we sip throughout the day when we're starting to feel like munching something. Stevia is allowed, and I put that in my tea.

Have I Cheated?

Yes. I will readily admit that I have cheated this week. Twice, actually, which I don't think is too bad. Yesterday, while at Sam's Club, I took Brady to get him the pizza we promised him. Sam's gives you two slices per order.  I had to make sure they weren't too hot for my toddler, right? So I had two bites of cheese pizza. I paid the price. I only lost about half a pound yesterday, according to my scale. It was worth it. That cheese was awesome! I also snuck a few marshmallows earlier this week when my kids were having them for after-school snack. Not so much worth it, but I can cut myself some slack on that one, too.

So how much weight have I lost? I'm going to wait until after tomorrow when I'm weighed at Jaison's office to give you the official numbers. While his scale reads about five pounds heavier than ours does, I don't trust our scale because it gives a different reading every time you step on it. I will tell you that I believe I've lost a significant amount of weight in just one week - at least the pound per day that is to be expected on the hCG diet, probably more.

So stay tuned for hCG recipes and more updates on my progress. I do think this diet is probably the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. Have you done the hCG diet? What were your results and thoughts about the program?

Synopsis of the hCG Diet

The hCG Diet, it is a diet that uses the pregnancy hormone, hCG, to reset the hypothalamus and target the non-essential fat stores other diets just don't reach. The diet has several phases. In the first, the dieter begins to rid himself of the toxic chemicals stored in the fat, due to the toxicity of today's food and environment. Next comes a two-day fat loading phase in which you consume as much fatty and sugary foods as you'd like. You begin taking the hCG supplement on these days. This overload is done so that your body is aware of the kinds of fat to target. After this two-day phase comes the 500 calorie very low calorie diet phase. Finally, there is a 3-week maintenance phase in which calories and a variety of foods are slowly reintroduced into the body.

I've really simplified the overall diet, but I encourage you to read more about it. My husband, Bill, and I are working in conjunction with our chiropractor, Dr. Jaison Golojuh to complete a 43 day protocol of the hCG diet. Check out what Dr. Jaison has to say about the hCG diet on his website for a more thorough description of the program. It is to be expected that dieters will lose between 1/2 and 1 pound per day on the hCG diet. Because the hCG hormone causes the body to take fat from non-essential stores, 500 calories a day are plenty to feel satisfied and to be healthy. If you follow the plan, your body's metabolism will be reset, and the weight will stay off.

Detoxification Phase

Bill and I started this phase on Monday. Dr. Golojuh gave us six-bottle homeopathic detoxification kit from DesBio. Four days a week, we take the Detox I, II and III, as well as Matrix Support. We place 20 drops of each in a 16 - 24 ounce bottle of water and sip it for 3 hours. The other 3 days of the week, we take Cerebromax and Spinalmax. These are adminstered the same way as the others.

Prior to giving us anything, Jaison met with us. We were weighed, our BMI was determined, and we were measured. He also talked to us about the program and answered our questions. I highly recommend seeking the assistance of a doctor in order to be sure you are putting your health first and that you are using the most quality products on the market. Not everyone should take part in the hCG diet. Women who are pregant and diabetics are two groups who should not use hCG.

Our Progress

It's obviously early in the program. Thus far, we haven't had to change our eating habits at all. We've simply been taking the detox products in the morning along with a whole foods multi-vitamin called Catalyn by Standard Process. I will copy the measurements from Jaison and update the post with them later, but here are our current photos. My weight is 243 pounds. I am truly hoping to reach a 40 pound weight loss over the 43-day protocol, but I will be satisfied with 25 pounds, as I am so tired of being fatigued and not fitting into my clothes. I'm told that energy levels skyrocket on the hCG diet, and I've already begun to feel a bit better since beginning the detox and taking the Catalyn.

We go back to see Jaison on Monday and will meet with him once a week throughout the process. I'll keep you updated on each phase, posting pictures and measurements. I plan to update you on what we eat, how we feel and what's involved in each phase. Wish us luck!