The Time Has Come

Last week Julie came home from work and told me about a diet that several of her co-workers have been using. I was (and still am) a bit skeptical. We have both tried several different "diets" from Atkins and South Beach to weekly Weight Watchers meeting. Nothing has seemed to stick. So it shouldn't be a surprise that when she told me about this diet I wasn't sure about it. However, we have an up coming trip to Mexico in September and in an attempt to look like something other than a beached whale when in my swim suit I will give just about anything a shot at this point.

Julie called and made appointments for both of us. The first (and yes this is a weekly adventure) was yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect. The doctors office is a 45 min. drive from our house and that gave us some uninterrupted time to discuss our "game plan" for the diet. We decided we weren't going to start it until today and that we would stick to it "hard core" until our trip in September. That gives us a full 8 weeks. According to the website for this clinic that should be enough time to drop anywhere from 20 to 40 lbs. Now I know some of you reading this are now thinking "What are you nuts!?! that isn't a safe amount of weight to lose in 8 weeks!! And isn't even possible to lose in 8 weeks." Let me just say that part of me is with you on that.... however I really want to lose the weight and this is a medical weight loss program and your progress is overseen by a doctor. These are all the things I keep telling myself, but I am not sure I totally believe it myself.

When we arrived we walked into a very nice medical building with marble floors and numerous doctors offices inside. The office we were visiting was on the second floor, so up in the elevator we went. Then down a hall to the right and into the office. Beautiful mahogany book shelf's lined the left wall full of charts and a matching counter was in front of that. After signing in we sat in very comfortable chairs and settled in for our wait to see the nurse. While waiting we had to fill out several papers listing medical history, family history and current demographic information. There was a scrap book sitting on the chair next to me and when I opened it I was greeted with a before and after picture of a woman who had lost 125 lbs using this diet program. Hard to believe but the pictures sure looked convincing.

After weighting about 15 min we were summonsed to the back for a check of our anti-oxidant levels and a "before" picture. Then we were sent back to the waiting room. After another 10 min or so we were called back individually to meet with the nurse. She verified medical history, took measurements and weight (mine was 193.2) asked if we had any specific medical questions and then drew labs to send out. She then sent me back to the waiting room again to wait for the nutritionist. Julie met me in the waiting room and a few min later we were called back to the nutritionists office.

The nutritionist explained the diet to us. It consists of an apatite suppressant in a pill form, limiting intake to 800 calories a day, and daily injections of HCG. HCG is a hormone produced by pregnant women that allows their bodies to burn excess fat stores while pregnant. The medication HCG can be used to enhance a woman's fertility when trying to conceive though for infertility treatment it is used in a concentration 1000x stronger than for diet. The drug is FDA approved for both infertility and weight loss. Now again, I am sure many of you are thinking "no way in hell." But this drug has been used for more than 50 years and is safe when monitored by a doctor. The nutritionist continued by explaining we would be giving the injections to our self's every day for 5 days in a row then have 2 days off. However during that 2 day period we would continue to follow the 800 cal diet. At this point I am thinking "nice, no food for 8 weeks.... awesome!" She then gave us the medication explained each one and sent us on our way, to return in a week.

So all of this was yesterday. Today marked the beginning of the diet. I have followed it to the letter. For breakfast I had whole grain cereal, milk and a peach. Lunch was a cucumber salad sandwich again on whole grain bread, the remaining pieces of cucumber and a yogurt. Dinner has yet to happen however I am planning on chicken and asparagus. There has also been a huge amount of water consumed today (which has in turn caused many more trips to the bathroom than usual).

I have not been hungry, and if this whole 8 weeks goes like today did I am very excited! They tell you that you can expect to lose about a pound a day using this diet. I hope that is true.... I would love to be down to 150 by the time we leave for Mexico. I will tell you that I have not yet done the first HCG shot. I will be injecting myself at about 9 PM tonight. The shot has to be given at the same time every day and seeing as my work schedule fluctuates so drastically 9 PM is the only time that I can truly anticipate being home every night for the shot.

I will post again tomorrow to let you know how shot 1 and day 2 go.
Happy fat loss to all!
Kim