And So It Begins...

So, I go into the doctor's office tomorrow to get started on my HCG journey. I am a little nervous, but mostly excited about this new adventure for me. I am worried about how I will feel for 6 weeks on this program, but I am excited at the prospects of losing a large amount of weight in a short time without the side effects of major hunger, sagging skin, etc.

Why did I decide to follow this non-FDA approved weight loss protocol? For one, I think the FDA failed to approve it for many reasons, one of those being they didn't look at all the parameters of the weight lost on the Simeon's HCG protocol. They compared people on a very low calorie diet (VLCD) of 500 calories; one group got HCG injections and one group got placebo. The end result: both groups experienced the same average weight loss. It didn't examine what kind of weight they lost, but I am pretty sure the ones without HCG had a fairly dramatic muscle loss. I bet they were starving the entire time. From what I have read about the Simeon's HCG protocol, you shouldn't be terribly hungry and the weight lost should primarily be fat (and the fat we don't need, not essential, organ protecting fat). Lean muscle mass is supposed to stay close to what you had before the protocol. In my mind this is critical. It is how you keep the weight off.

The second reason I think the FDA denied an approval is lobbying pressure. With a diet industry worth millions of dollars do you think this study went unnoticed by the pharma companies making diet drugs at that time. I would not be surprised if they put up a bit of a fuss over this protocol. If everyone could lose weight and reset their hunger signals with HCG, where would the pharma companies be???

Okay, so enough of that.

I chose to do this after I did a bit of research. I am a scientist, a biologist specifically, so I can read research papers and understand the jargon. Nothing convinced me NOT to do this.

I am doing this under a MD's constant supervision. Yes, it is costing me lots of bucks, but I want to know that all my systems are working as expected. This was also important to the family and friends with whom I discussed my decision.

And finally, I am doing this because I have a lot of weight to lose. I injured my right ankle and hamstring muscles almost 2 years ago. Theses injuries are not healing well. This is preventing me from getting the exercise I need to lose weight. My weight is aggravating my injuries. You see the vicious cycle I am in. I need to lose a large chunk of weight so that I can exercise without causing more damage and pain to my leg. I believe that this is my answer.

Okay, so I see the doc tomorrow and learn to do the injections. I start the injections and my first 2 load days on Saturday. I will keep you posted.

Thanks for following me on what I hope with be a life changing journey.

Amy