http://www.pharmaca.com/Weight-Management/Creative-Bioscience-hCG-1234-Drops-2oz/523221/5013-5956-6004/Product
20% AND 15% and Pharmaca does free shipping if you order over $30.
This product was one I used as a backup for energy and hunger:
http://www.pharmaca.com/Weight-Management/Creative-Bioscience-hCG-Energy-60-capsules/526316/5013-5956-6004/Product
I've also discovered some useful things for phase 3, the three weeks during which I learn to maintain my weight and also "come off" the hcG with a diet that is still limited from sugar and starch.
What I've learned is that there are some very creative people out there. I hadn't spent much time on food blogs before, but now! There's a wealth of info about how to bake without sugar or flour - who would have guessed?
It started because a friend told me about "oopsie rolls" which are "bread" made of cream cheese and eggs. Pretty cool!!
http://www.food.com/recipe/cleochatras-oopsie-rolls-292261
Basically:
1 egg for 1 ounce of cold cream cheese. I started with 4 of each, just in case they didn't work out.
Preheat oven to 350, grease your baking sheet
Separate the whites from the yolks
Beat the cream cheese into yolks, let them wait while you beat the heck out of the whites. if you have it, add a teaspoon of cream of tartar to stiffen them.
Once the egg whites are stiff enough that they form peaks, add in the yolk+cream cheese mixture, folding in so you don't crush the stiffened whites.
Spoon onto the cookie sheet
Bake for 30 minutes.
Let rest, then remove and cool. They can be refrigerated, toasted, frozen -
If you want to add salt or artificial sweetener, mix it
into the yolks - yeah, you can make them sweet or savory here. Some
people add herbs to theirs, I might try some cinnamon next time I make
them.
Most people use these for hamburger buns because when you pour them into circles, that's basically what they form. One clever lady has bought individual shaped pans so she can have hot dog buns. I didn't have a cookie sheet (don't ask) so I used a long, skinny loaf pan for half of my batter and it came out like...I don't know - like bread really, though not tall sliceable bread. I think it might if I had filled the pan higher and actually used cream of tartar. After 4 months of not a single slice of bread, one's imagination is very good...My next foray will be with coconut flour and protein powder. SO curious!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Whatever Dr. Oz.....
My wonderful father is one of the most health conscious men you'll ever meet. He knows all about every new health craze and concern as it comes up. He takes his vitamins every day, eats his vegetables - and he worries about me, because he loves me. I'm lucky.
Today he sent me this link
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos
This is what I wrote to him after watching as much as I could take of Dr. Oz:
*My* experience with it, and understanding of it is different than the guys that want to scare everyone.
Yes, absolutely, a 500 calorie a day diet without this kind of supplementation would send your body into starvation mode and you would experience organs shutting down. This isn't just 500 calories a day though - it's also your fat stores, and your body *doesn't* go into starvation mode and start hoarding calories as it would if the hcG weren't releasing that fat to be available to your body to burn.
Their professional witness says the drops have no active ingredient in them, I simply can't agree.
Throughout my life I have struggled with blood sugar - having to eat at very regular intervals, and had to be really careful what I ate, balancing protein and carbs really carefully. During the diet I didn't have blood sugar dives like I was accustomed to. My boyfriend even noticed this and commented how nice it was that my energy levels seemed to be better than usual.
I will say that I was really careful to eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables and ALWAYS organic. I've heard that organic food has 100s of times more nutritional value than non-organic and I suspect the people that have the headaches and faintness weren't eating organic, and may have been eating just lettuce, not raw kale as I was. They also might not have had very good eating habits before they started the diet - if you had an addiction to fast food and then went on this diet I bet it would be really hard.
Dr. Oz is so....reactive.... that I couldn't listen to the whole thing, so I don't know what long-term concerns he has.
As they said, the doctor that came up with this did so in the 1960s, so I doubt it would still be a going concern if it were killing people.
What I loved about hcG is that I was able to get to my target weight in under a year - my feet and knees feel better, my skin still fits me - but I don't know that this would be ideal for everyone.
The first round I did with it was harder than the second one. The first time I did it I had a few dreams about eating cookies. I don't anymore. It's kind of like when I was vegetarian - it feels like a choice now, not a deprivation. I no longer think "I can't have that." I think "I don't eat that."
In addition I think I'm over my sugar and wheat addiction at last, and that is really nice. I'm going to do my best to stay away from them even after my three weeks of "phase 3."
A very good friend of mine lost about the same amount of weight as I did, but she did it with Weight Watchers and running - and it took her a year, one long slog. I tried Weight Watchers a couple times - it's hard and didn't really work for me! This wasn't always easy, but it did work (in 4 months,) and I feel good. Being lighter feels wonderful. Exercising is easier, walking up my 4 flights of stairs to our apartment is easier...the list goes on.
Today he sent me this link
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos
This is what I wrote to him after watching as much as I could take of Dr. Oz:
*My* experience with it, and understanding of it is different than the guys that want to scare everyone.
Yes, absolutely, a 500 calorie a day diet without this kind of supplementation would send your body into starvation mode and you would experience organs shutting down. This isn't just 500 calories a day though - it's also your fat stores, and your body *doesn't* go into starvation mode and start hoarding calories as it would if the hcG weren't releasing that fat to be available to your body to burn.
Their professional witness says the drops have no active ingredient in them, I simply can't agree.
Throughout my life I have struggled with blood sugar - having to eat at very regular intervals, and had to be really careful what I ate, balancing protein and carbs really carefully. During the diet I didn't have blood sugar dives like I was accustomed to. My boyfriend even noticed this and commented how nice it was that my energy levels seemed to be better than usual.
I will say that I was really careful to eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables and ALWAYS organic. I've heard that organic food has 100s of times more nutritional value than non-organic and I suspect the people that have the headaches and faintness weren't eating organic, and may have been eating just lettuce, not raw kale as I was. They also might not have had very good eating habits before they started the diet - if you had an addiction to fast food and then went on this diet I bet it would be really hard.
Dr. Oz is so....reactive.... that I couldn't listen to the whole thing, so I don't know what long-term concerns he has.
As they said, the doctor that came up with this did so in the 1960s, so I doubt it would still be a going concern if it were killing people.
What I loved about hcG is that I was able to get to my target weight in under a year - my feet and knees feel better, my skin still fits me - but I don't know that this would be ideal for everyone.
The first round I did with it was harder than the second one. The first time I did it I had a few dreams about eating cookies. I don't anymore. It's kind of like when I was vegetarian - it feels like a choice now, not a deprivation. I no longer think "I can't have that." I think "I don't eat that."
In addition I think I'm over my sugar and wheat addiction at last, and that is really nice. I'm going to do my best to stay away from them even after my three weeks of "phase 3."
A very good friend of mine lost about the same amount of weight as I did, but she did it with Weight Watchers and running - and it took her a year, one long slog. I tried Weight Watchers a couple times - it's hard and didn't really work for me! This wasn't always easy, but it did work (in 4 months,) and I feel good. Being lighter feels wonderful. Exercising is easier, walking up my 4 flights of stairs to our apartment is easier...the list goes on.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Today I actually dipped half a pound below my goal weight.
It's pretty exciting and unbelievable. It has made me look a little more thoughtfully at what worked and didn't work during the protocol because I had some major stalls along the way. It's surprising to me as well that my body is still releasing fat even though I'm now at 20.8% body fat according to my fancy new scale. I had thought that the HcG would stop working once I got close to goal....though maybe it means my personal idea of a good goal weight isn't as low as my body might be willing to comfortably go...hard to say. I'm happy to see my collar bones.
One of the things that has seemed to help my progress is getting back to taking my miracle vitamins.
https://www.nuskin.com/content/nuskin/en_US/products/pharmanex/nutritionals/lifepak/01003486.html
and
https://www.nuskin.com/content/nuskin/en_US/products/pharmanex/ageloc_vitality/01103866.html
I had stopped taking them fearing that they might have some hidden fat and I couldn't bear the idea of slowing my progress. I had my hair cut a couple weeks ago and my friend and hairdresser and the woman who turned me on to these amazing vitamins noticed that my hair had thinned and wasn't looking as shiny as usual. She asked if I was still taking my vits and I admitted that I had stopped. She recommended highly that I get back to it, and I'm glad I did. My energy has improved and my hair is looking better...and I think it may have something to do with the weight coming off at a better rate.
It's now 3 months and 10 days since I began with hcG and I've dropped 35 lbs....what ought to have taken me a year to release with Weight Watchers or some other healthy approach.
If you decide to get those vitamins, be a darling and let me know...I get credit for the referrals (not for hcG though :)
I'll post some before and after photos soon. I tried on my jeans two days ago and nearly fell over. I can put both my arms into the waist and legs with my body and I don't need to unbutton the fly!!
It's pretty exciting and unbelievable. It has made me look a little more thoughtfully at what worked and didn't work during the protocol because I had some major stalls along the way. It's surprising to me as well that my body is still releasing fat even though I'm now at 20.8% body fat according to my fancy new scale. I had thought that the HcG would stop working once I got close to goal....though maybe it means my personal idea of a good goal weight isn't as low as my body might be willing to comfortably go...hard to say. I'm happy to see my collar bones.
One of the things that has seemed to help my progress is getting back to taking my miracle vitamins.
https://www.nuskin.com/content/nuskin/en_US/products/pharmanex/nutritionals/lifepak/01003486.html
and
https://www.nuskin.com/content/nuskin/en_US/products/pharmanex/ageloc_vitality/01103866.html
I had stopped taking them fearing that they might have some hidden fat and I couldn't bear the idea of slowing my progress. I had my hair cut a couple weeks ago and my friend and hairdresser and the woman who turned me on to these amazing vitamins noticed that my hair had thinned and wasn't looking as shiny as usual. She asked if I was still taking my vits and I admitted that I had stopped. She recommended highly that I get back to it, and I'm glad I did. My energy has improved and my hair is looking better...and I think it may have something to do with the weight coming off at a better rate.
It's now 3 months and 10 days since I began with hcG and I've dropped 35 lbs....what ought to have taken me a year to release with Weight Watchers or some other healthy approach.
If you decide to get those vitamins, be a darling and let me know...I get credit for the referrals (not for hcG though :)
I'll post some before and after photos soon. I tried on my jeans two days ago and nearly fell over. I can put both my arms into the waist and legs with my body and I don't need to unbutton the fly!!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
How hcG has worked for me
I started using hcG on December 31, 2012, my 42nd birthday.
I decided to give it a try because two friends and a family member had had success with it and I really needed something to work.
I've been gradually gaining weight over the last 8 years and have honestly struggled with my weight most of my life. At 5'3" I had reached 161 lbs and decided I had to do something significant.
This diet felt like a godsend to me because I had struggled for so long and this was finally something that worked, and quickly, which helped keep me motivated. As of today I've lost 31 lbs !! Can I tell you, being within 5 lbs of my goal weight at age 42 is about the most thrilling thing...though I suppose reaching it will be even more exciting.
I wanted to write this blog to share some of the information I've gleaned through my process as I feel very indebted to other bloggers for sharing their precious information and experiences.
Here's the product I've been using.
http://www.creativebioscience.com/hcg-1234.html
What follows is basically a brain-spill of info about what has worked for me.
It really is only 500 calories a day - 100 grams (3 1/2 oz) of very lean protein twice a day and one vegetable with that, 2 pieces of fruit per day and only: apples, strawberries, 1/2 grapefruit, orange (not tangerines, mandarins, clementines) It is suggested to use lemon juice everyday - I put it on my apples and salads. You can eat a tomato instead of one of the other fruits.
Trader Joe's pre-cooked chicken breast has been my go-to, as well as their pre-cooked shrimp. The easier it is to prepare your food, the better. Turkey is actually not recommended, nor is canned fish of any kind, but it may be alright, as long as it's not in oil. Other bloggers I've read go for water packed tuna.
Salmon and mahi-mahi are too fatty.
You can NOT eat two vegetables at a time which can make salads a bummer, though you can add herbs like fresh basil and mint.
Vegetables are also somewhat limited - nothing starchy or sugary - the obvious NOs are potatoes, cauliflower and carrots, but also no broccoli.
Kale, Chard, Asparagus are all very good. I eat a lot of Arugula for my salads as it's got so much flavor and is very low calorie and have recently fallen in love with fennel, which I slice thinly with the mandoline and mix it with finely chopped green apple, apple cider vinegar and a bit of lemon juice. With or without the chicken it's delicious.
Dairy is limited to 1 Tablespoon of skim milk (so for the most part I skip it)
2 pieces of either melba toast (they DO still make it) or Italian grissini...but I often skip these as it's so good to be 100% away from wheat.
Of course, you'll want to eat all organic fruit and vegetables, but the nice thing about only eating 500 calories a day is that it just isn't very much food, so spending a little more on great produce doesn't hurt.
There are some condiments that are allowed - most mustard is fine, vinegar (but not balsamic), Bragg's Amino Acids (instead of soy sauce which is prohibited, ) all the spices you can think of - I like cinnamon on my apples - sea salt is recommended daily.
I tried eating some seaweed as I love seaweed salad, but I either gained or didn't lose weight when I tried it so I recommend avoiding it.
You cannot cook with any oil or even put regular moisturizer on. I've even stopped taking my Omegas vitamins. I use mineral oil for my body moisturizer and found a great oil free facial moisturizer on Pharamaca.
http://www.pharmaca.com/Natural-Moisturizers/Andalou-Naturals-Acai--White-Tea-Oil-Free-Moisturizer-21oz/525776/5010-5033-5183/Product
I wash my face and body with Neutrogena's bar glycerin soap.
Corn Husker's Lotion is good for the hands and Vaseline makes a lip balm that's safe - because it's 100% petroleum jelly..mmm, delish.
The first two days of the experience you "bear eat" or load meaning you get to eat as much fatty and sugary food as you can manage, meanwhile saying goodbye to all the fatty sugary foods you won't be eating for the next 2 months. After that you have either 23 or 40 days of what is called phase 2. You take 10 drops of the hcG 3 times a day and eat the 500 calorie diet.
The last 3 days of the 23 or 40 days you stop taking the drops and continue with the 500 calories. Then, for phase 3 you double your protein intake and triple your calories, but continue to avoid starches and sugars for three weeks. I moved from 1200 calories gradually to 1500 a day. The point of this phase is to maintain your weight and let the hcG become effective again as I guess you build a tolerance.
It is then recommended, assuming you need to lose more weight, that you spend a few weeks on phase 4, which is maintenance on a regular diet. I skipped this and went from phase three back to the beginning.
The first time through I lost 1/2 to one pound a day and this time I seem to be losing an average of 1/2 a pound per day.
I use two apps daily, one for keeping track of all of my food and weight, the other for checking if something is on protocol - that one is called Applicious hcG Food or something. They're expensive for apps, but SO helpful.
A couple other tips - chewing gum can be a crutch too, but even sugar-free gum doesn't work unless it's sweetened with xylitol - these lose their flavor really quickly. You can also chew Trident regular mint and spearmint, none of their fruit flavored gums. You can sweeten things with Stevia and the one that I've found that actually tastes good is Natvia. Truvia isn't too bad, but the rest of them are as bad as Sweet and Low. If you're in a pinch and must have a sweetener, aspartame is prohibited but saccharine is ok for some reason.
The hcG is incredible in that I'm not often hungry and I can really handle not eating what everyone else is eating. After the first three weeks I had a couple dreams about crunchy chocolate chip cookies, and I drink A LOT of different flavored teas. My blood sugar is incredibly even because the hcG is releasing your fat stores into your blood stream and your body feeds from that - really cool stuff!
I go to the Creative Biosciene website blog with my questions
http://creativebioscience.com/blog/category/hot-topic-contest/
and have actually won free product for my questions!
They also have a 24hr support hotline - sometimes their people are very helpful, sometimes less so. The lady who answers questions on the blog is quite helpful.
Lastly, I really like this diet because it's absolute. There are no grey zones about how much you can eat or what you can eat. It only doesn't work if you cheat, and if you do, all your progress literally goes out the window, and immediately. The very hardest thing for me has been socializing, as so much is dinner or drinks with friends, and having lettuce while they have steaks can be a bummer, or tea while they have cocktails (that's harder than the lettuce, honestly!)
I found out about this from my boyfriend's cousin who has literally lost over 100 lbs on it.
OK, there it is.
Have fun with it, but remember - NO cheating! You'll hate yourself if you do.
Here's a link to the original Doctor's protocol which you'll want to read as well - though I paraphrased everything you'll really need to know...I think... http://www.poundsandinchesaway.com/dr-simeons-manuscript-hcg-diet/
Please feel free to contact me at likethegin@gmail.com if you have any questions about it. Best of luck to you!!!
I decided to give it a try because two friends and a family member had had success with it and I really needed something to work.
I've been gradually gaining weight over the last 8 years and have honestly struggled with my weight most of my life. At 5'3" I had reached 161 lbs and decided I had to do something significant.
This diet felt like a godsend to me because I had struggled for so long and this was finally something that worked, and quickly, which helped keep me motivated. As of today I've lost 31 lbs !! Can I tell you, being within 5 lbs of my goal weight at age 42 is about the most thrilling thing...though I suppose reaching it will be even more exciting.
I wanted to write this blog to share some of the information I've gleaned through my process as I feel very indebted to other bloggers for sharing their precious information and experiences.
Here's the product I've been using.
http://www.creativebioscience.com/hcg-1234.html
What follows is basically a brain-spill of info about what has worked for me.
It really is only 500 calories a day - 100 grams (3 1/2 oz) of very lean protein twice a day and one vegetable with that, 2 pieces of fruit per day and only: apples, strawberries, 1/2 grapefruit, orange (not tangerines, mandarins, clementines) It is suggested to use lemon juice everyday - I put it on my apples and salads. You can eat a tomato instead of one of the other fruits.
Trader Joe's pre-cooked chicken breast has been my go-to, as well as their pre-cooked shrimp. The easier it is to prepare your food, the better. Turkey is actually not recommended, nor is canned fish of any kind, but it may be alright, as long as it's not in oil. Other bloggers I've read go for water packed tuna.
Salmon and mahi-mahi are too fatty.
You can NOT eat two vegetables at a time which can make salads a bummer, though you can add herbs like fresh basil and mint.
Vegetables are also somewhat limited - nothing starchy or sugary - the obvious NOs are potatoes, cauliflower and carrots, but also no broccoli.
Kale, Chard, Asparagus are all very good. I eat a lot of Arugula for my salads as it's got so much flavor and is very low calorie and have recently fallen in love with fennel, which I slice thinly with the mandoline and mix it with finely chopped green apple, apple cider vinegar and a bit of lemon juice. With or without the chicken it's delicious.
Dairy is limited to 1 Tablespoon of skim milk (so for the most part I skip it)
2 pieces of either melba toast (they DO still make it) or Italian grissini...but I often skip these as it's so good to be 100% away from wheat.
Of course, you'll want to eat all organic fruit and vegetables, but the nice thing about only eating 500 calories a day is that it just isn't very much food, so spending a little more on great produce doesn't hurt.
There are some condiments that are allowed - most mustard is fine, vinegar (but not balsamic), Bragg's Amino Acids (instead of soy sauce which is prohibited, ) all the spices you can think of - I like cinnamon on my apples - sea salt is recommended daily.
I tried eating some seaweed as I love seaweed salad, but I either gained or didn't lose weight when I tried it so I recommend avoiding it.
You cannot cook with any oil or even put regular moisturizer on. I've even stopped taking my Omegas vitamins. I use mineral oil for my body moisturizer and found a great oil free facial moisturizer on Pharamaca.
http://www.pharmaca.com/Natural-Moisturizers/Andalou-Naturals-Acai--White-Tea-Oil-Free-Moisturizer-21oz/525776/5010-5033-5183/Product
I wash my face and body with Neutrogena's bar glycerin soap.
Corn Husker's Lotion is good for the hands and Vaseline makes a lip balm that's safe - because it's 100% petroleum jelly..mmm, delish.
The first two days of the experience you "bear eat" or load meaning you get to eat as much fatty and sugary food as you can manage, meanwhile saying goodbye to all the fatty sugary foods you won't be eating for the next 2 months. After that you have either 23 or 40 days of what is called phase 2. You take 10 drops of the hcG 3 times a day and eat the 500 calorie diet.
The last 3 days of the 23 or 40 days you stop taking the drops and continue with the 500 calories. Then, for phase 3 you double your protein intake and triple your calories, but continue to avoid starches and sugars for three weeks. I moved from 1200 calories gradually to 1500 a day. The point of this phase is to maintain your weight and let the hcG become effective again as I guess you build a tolerance.
It is then recommended, assuming you need to lose more weight, that you spend a few weeks on phase 4, which is maintenance on a regular diet. I skipped this and went from phase three back to the beginning.
The first time through I lost 1/2 to one pound a day and this time I seem to be losing an average of 1/2 a pound per day.
I use two apps daily, one for keeping track of all of my food and weight, the other for checking if something is on protocol - that one is called Applicious hcG Food or something. They're expensive for apps, but SO helpful.
A couple other tips - chewing gum can be a crutch too, but even sugar-free gum doesn't work unless it's sweetened with xylitol - these lose their flavor really quickly. You can also chew Trident regular mint and spearmint, none of their fruit flavored gums. You can sweeten things with Stevia and the one that I've found that actually tastes good is Natvia. Truvia isn't too bad, but the rest of them are as bad as Sweet and Low. If you're in a pinch and must have a sweetener, aspartame is prohibited but saccharine is ok for some reason.
The hcG is incredible in that I'm not often hungry and I can really handle not eating what everyone else is eating. After the first three weeks I had a couple dreams about crunchy chocolate chip cookies, and I drink A LOT of different flavored teas. My blood sugar is incredibly even because the hcG is releasing your fat stores into your blood stream and your body feeds from that - really cool stuff!
I go to the Creative Biosciene website blog with my questions
http://creativebioscience.com/blog/category/hot-topic-contest/
and have actually won free product for my questions!
They also have a 24hr support hotline - sometimes their people are very helpful, sometimes less so. The lady who answers questions on the blog is quite helpful.
Lastly, I really like this diet because it's absolute. There are no grey zones about how much you can eat or what you can eat. It only doesn't work if you cheat, and if you do, all your progress literally goes out the window, and immediately. The very hardest thing for me has been socializing, as so much is dinner or drinks with friends, and having lettuce while they have steaks can be a bummer, or tea while they have cocktails (that's harder than the lettuce, honestly!)
I found out about this from my boyfriend's cousin who has literally lost over 100 lbs on it.
OK, there it is.
Have fun with it, but remember - NO cheating! You'll hate yourself if you do.
Here's a link to the original Doctor's protocol which you'll want to read as well - though I paraphrased everything you'll really need to know...I think... http://www.poundsandinchesaway.com/dr-simeons-manuscript-hcg-diet/
Please feel free to contact me at likethegin@gmail.com if you have any questions about it. Best of luck to you!!!
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