part 1 - the skinny on how the hcg diet reshaped my 3x body to a size 8 in less than 5 months - no exercise!

When on the HCG diet, I took the opportunity to change many of my bad habits. Hidden sugars are lurking everywhere. I still drink 6-8 glasses of water with lemon a day. I use Stevia or Monk Fruit instead of the usual Equal or Splenda. I have a piece of carrot cake at dinner almost every night, but I scrape off the cream cheese icing -- I know, thats the bet part right! I eat lots more protein than ever before- chicken, beef, fish, and skip all the breads, pastas, sugary fruits, butter, oils (I never ate fried foods anyway). Occasionally I do treat myself to bread & butter before a fancy meal. I try to eat 1 or 2 apples every day. I still don't exercise.
I still meet with Lorie Shiles now with the Wellness Weight Loss Center, Glenolden, NJ 856-739-3358 to get my weekly MIC injections.
See my review for Dr. Craig Mezrow, Bala Cynwyd, PA on this site as he is treating me for my loose saggy skin with lasers.

My hips and thighs have always, always, been my biggest problem - until now. Before the HCG diet, I always had to buy clothes 1 size larger for my bigger bottom, even when I weighted 115-120 lbs. EX: when I wore a size 8 top, i had to wear a size 10-12 on the bottom. There is a book entitled "thinner thighs in 30 days." It’s out of print, but you can still get it on-line. I used the info in it when to loose excess weight in my thighs (when in my 20's.) In my 20's, after loosing about 25+ lbs., my thigh skin didn't sag. My legs looked normal after loosing that weight, because, being younger, my skin had more elasticity.

Now after the HCG diet, I’m much older, my skin has much less elasticity, and I lost 75+ lbs. As you can see from my photos my thighs, upper arms, butt and stomach suffer from sagging skin. I've researched solutions to sagging skin with several professional personal trainers, on-line, my HCG dr and nutritionist and my cosmetic surgeon. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

Everyone’s skin – men's and women’s -- sags after any weight loss for the very same reasons that a pregnant women’s belly sags after pregnancy. It’s all stretched out. The body normally absorbs some of the sagging skin tissue, but often not nearly enough. There’s no “cure” except for surgery and/or laser lipo. I’ve opted for laser lipo even though It’s a slower, but its much much less invasive process.

That being said, if you create muscle under your sagging skin AFTER weight loss, it will “look” less saggy because the muscle replaced the lost fat and collagen. Depending upon the amount of weight loss, you may be able to “plump” up the sagging skin enough with muscle to where you will not notice it. Loose the muscle, and the saggy skin will return. If you exercise BEFORE loosing the weight, you’ll help your metabolism burn the fat faster. But again, depending upon the amount of muscle you create, you could end up stretching the skin even more. Then after loosing the weight, you’ll have more sagging skin to contend with, more than if you didn’t build the muscle.

I read an article that compared reshaping the body using surgery or lasers after weight loss. The article claimed that a much higher % of people -- who opted for reshaping the body using lasers as compared to those who opted for surgery -- maintained their weight loss much longer, AND didn’t regain their (lost) weight up to 5 years after reshaping the body using lasers. It didn't say why that was.

The one exception you should consider is scuptra or fillers for the face. Sculptra is said to last 5-7 years. Fillers last only months. If you opt for a facelift, consider building collagen first for a much much better long lasting and natural result.

Part 1 - The skinny on the HCG Diet: How I went from a frumpy lumpy size 3X body and reshaped my body to a size 8 in less than 5 months, and it was relatively cheap, painless, easy, and side effect free. I never felt deprived, hungry or tired. And I did it without any exercise.
Many people who’ve seen my transformation have urged me to share my story so that others can benefit. Everyone deserves to like, even love, the body they’re wearing. Everyone deserves to be in good health.
As the saying goes, when I was younger, I could eat anything and everything and never gained an ounce. I was never pretty or popular growing up, just average. Married at 17. Within 4 months after starting the pill -- my chosen birth control method, I went from wearing a size 8 to a size 14. Even after I stopped taking the pill and started dieting, I remained size 14. By 23 I was divorced. Shortly thereafter, a friend of my ex-husband told me that the all the guys laughed at me behind my back because my butt was soooo huge. Single again, that was enough motivation for me to begin eating lots of salads, exercising, and 3+ hours of daily power walking. After 3 grueling months, I was back to wearing a size 8. The same friend then asked me for a date saying my skinny a_s never looked so good. I just kept on walking. It felt so good to reject they guy who first rejected me – although, he was never a real contender anyway. But thanks to his honest rejection, I got motivated.
Up through my 30’s and still single, I continued to eat anything and everything, as much as I wanted. If and when I gained 5 lbs., I easily lost it in a day or 2. So my weight consistently hovered between 110 and 115 lbs. for years. Being a size 6, sometimes an 8, I had lots of clothing options, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE clothes. Being a great bargain shopper, I remember spending $300-$500 a month on oodles of designer fashions.
Through my mid 30’s into my 40’s, I experienced several bouts of unemployment, multiple job changes, 3 broken engagements, never remarried, and graduated Wharton with honors. During those years, when I gained 5 lbs., I didn’t really try to lose it. My hips and stomach began to slowly expand, inch by inch, into a size 10, 12 then into 14. I tried a lot of diets, on and off, with and without exercise, but nothing seemed to work. When I gained 10, 20, 30 lbs., I just didn’t care. Nothing kills motivation like stress, pain, suffering and failure. The truth of the matter was, I just gave up trying. And I remember my feelings and exact words I used when I made that decision.
By the time I reached my mid 50’s, pre-menopause came calling. Unable to afford health insurance, my uterine fibroid disease went unchecked for years. When I finally got health insurance, looking like I was 7 months pregnant, I underwent 2 successful uterine fibroid embolizations. But to my dismay, neither my belly, thighs or butt ever shrunk 1 inch. My already low self-esteem sunk even lower.
Like many people, I tried several different diets over the years – some crazy, and some not so crazy, under a doctor’s care, and without. I tried a plethora of O-T-C herbal weight loss products sold on TV and the internet, prescription diet pills, and even started cardo and weight training 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. I bought a treadmill that eventually turned into a coat hanger. Even after 3 months of dedicated hard work in a gym, I never lost an ounce, or an inch, nor did I gain any muscle. Eventually the only size big enough to cover my big fat belly and bubble butt was a 3X. Long long gone were the days when I had a 21” waist and wore those tiny designer fashions that were now hanging untouched in my closet (regardless, unless you’re a size 10 or smaller, you can never find anything that really looks good on you! And don’t kid yourself that black “makes you look thinner”. What a joke that is. An elephant wearing black is still an elephant in black, and will never be mistaken for a svelte panther.) Nearly 200 lbs., my knees really started to hurt, breathing was becoming increasingly more difficult, and my acid reflux nearly choked me to death one night while sleeping. Something had to give, eventually.
Almost a full year before I even learned about the HCG diet, I began to sense and consciously pursue a deep change in me. Different areas of my life had begun to slowly improve as I began to let go of people, places, things, attitudes and limiting beliefs that I used as an excuse to feel bad about myself and my life… being overweight was jut one side effect. I finally got sick and tired enough of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. As the sole and primary full-time caretaker of a 90 year old, I spend the majority of my time among lots of sick people. It made me realize that I didn’t want to end up like so many seniors, or worse. At my current age, it had to happen now, not later.
Now that I effortlessly lost over 75 lbs. in less than 5 months on the HCG Diet, without exercise or side effects, and without feeling deprived or hungry, and am back wearing size 8, here’s what I’ve learned about weight loss.
All diets work! They really do! Study the placebo effect and you’ll know why this is true. Any and all diets will work for any one and every one, that is, only if and when the person is truly willing to let go of the parts of him or herself that are holding on to the excess weight. If you’re not willing to let go of the “stuff”, no diet will ever work for you until you do. As long as you hold onto the “stuff,” no diet will ever work for you until you do. As long as any diet fail to work for you, all you’re doing is using that diet to beat yourself up… more punishment, and more pain, more felling bad about you, on top of being overweight and unhealthy!
You’ve heard it said, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” When you are truly ready to loose the fat, to let o of the “stuff,” the right diet for you will make itself known to you, and you’re weight loss will be quick and effortless.
I’m not a risk-taker. I’m the kind of person who does a ton of research, and then some, including word-of-mouth and the internet before making any big decisions, especially concerning my money and my health. And it was no different when it came to weight loss. When I asked people I knew about dieting, no one ever mentioned the HCG diet until AFTER I told them how I lost the weight. Funny thing about the HCG diet, it has been around as early as the 1950’s. Why didn’t I hear about it until now?
As I said, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired, and when you’re truly ready for the answer, it will be presented to you. For almost a full year, I was opening myself loosing the fat, and I was finally ready. Because I was mentally and emotionally ready, I discovered the HCG diet.
If you’re reading this, your time may have come too.
That I’m ecstatic with my new “old” figure is an understatement. Bye bye 3X. Hello size 8 (again)! It feels fantastic! I thank God everything I put on a pair of leggings or a elt –now that I have my waist back again! I had to buy an entirely new wardrobe including short shorts and a swim [RS bleep] -- something I didn’t dare wear for nearly 20 years.
As you can see from the photos, being on the HCG diet totally reshaped my body. I lost almost all the unwanted fat in all the right places. Something other diets never did for my body. Every area of my health has vastly improved. No more acid reflux. My breathing has improved as did my blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation, etc. I can run up stairs without any knee pain.
Before I started the HCG diet, my hips measured 52”, my belly 49”, waist 42”, thigh 32”, chest 46”, bra size, 44DDD, upper arm 15”. I ‘m 5’ 4” tall.
I was under a doctor’s and dietician’s supervision when I began the HCG late August 2014. I completed my detox, then the load days, then 40 shots, 1 shot per day. I ate out at restaurants 5-7 days a week, but managed to adhere to the HCG 500 calorie diet and 8+ glasses of water per day. I was never hungry, and never felt deprived. It was actually very easy to say “no” to candy, cakes, pies, ice cream, diet sodas, pastas, breads, and other fatty foods. There were days that the 500 calories was too much food. I was weighed by my dietician every week, and took the opportunity to change and develop better healthier eating habits.
After the 1st 40 days, I took a break for 6 weeks. I visited my dietician every week for advice on what to eat during this time, a weigh-in, and an MIC injection. After the 6 weeks, I went back on the HCG diet including detox, load days, another round of 40 daily shots, and continued with te weekly MIC injections.
When I reached my goal weight of 125 lbs. sometime in January 2015, my measurements were: Hips 40”, belly 40”, waist 32”, thigh 21.5”, chest 42,” bra size 34D, upper arm 12.5”. I've started the process of laser lipo to get rid of the excess loose skin -- especially the belly -- which is not reflected in any of my photos.
Just about everyone, including strangers, who knew the overweight me has stopped me in total amazement at the transformation I’ve made, and in a few short months. Any other diet would have taken me – or anyone else for that matter -- a year or more to loose the 76 lbs., and I don't think any diet would have reshaped my body the way the HCG did. I truly believe that if it had taken me a year to lose that much weight, I would have never made it. That’s one of the major problems with most diets, that the results are so slow in coming that the dieter looses all motivation.
And yes, I’ve developed new healthier eating habits. And yes, I still have a sugary desert almost ever night at dinner, eat ice cream, candy, pizza, bagels with cream cheese, pasta, bread and butter. Yes, I’m still holding my weight. I still haven’t started an exercise program which I intend to do, but not for weight loss, but for overall good health… Again, it’s a time issue. But I'm continuing my affirmations and visualizations.
Just about everyone (men and women) I’ve talked with and who’ve then tried the HCG diet (under medical supervision using the shots) have reported to me phenomenal success. Some have checked with their doctors about the HCG diet. Some doctors knew about it, some didn’t. Some doctors recommended it to their patients, others didn’t.
After starting the HCG diet, I did read Dr. Simeon’s manuscript about the diet, on-line. It made total sense to me, especially about the hypothalamus, thyroid, adrenals, and other hormones regarding weight gain and loss. I too know people, in fact I was one of them, who exercised like maniacs, and never lost any weight - very demotivating. I know people, and I was one of them, who hardly ate anything, and continued to gain weight - also very demotivating. I recommend that you read Dr. Simeon’s manuscript for an understanding of why HCG work and other diets and exercise fail. If you do, and it resonates with you, than it’s probably right for you. Don't let the 500 calories/day intimidate you or be an excuse. I didn't, and I look better now than I did in my 20's, and, according to my blood test, I am just as healthy. It was "above and beyond" well worth it!