Beta HCG Diet - How I Got Through 2 Rounds and Lost 50 Pounds

Today is my last day of Round 2 of the Beta HCG diet. It's been a long haul. Since January 25, I've had 500 calories a day. That's 41 days, 41 days of living on this twice a day: 3.5 precooked ounces of protein (limited list), 1 vegetable (limited list), 1 fruit (strawberries, orange, apple or grapefruit), 1 piece of melba toast. And no oil ingested or applied to skin. And, most importantly, an application of Beta HCG cream on my body six days a week. Pretty sparse. Between mid-October and early December, I did the same thing. Each time, I lost 25 pounds for a total of 50.

How did I do it?

I have proven to myself over and over that I can't do "moderation." I am much better at "black and white." Yes or no. I can have it or I can't. The Beta HCG Diet is an extremely structured diet. Very strict guidelines of what I can eat and how much of it. And it has a finite number of days that it goes on. It's all quite black and white. They say we can do anything for a day. There were times that I needed that one-day-at-a-time mentality, or, more accurately, one bite at a time, to get through these 41 days. Many times I chewed food I didn't want, often with a grimace. Just a few more bites, I'd tell myself.

I had the support of friends and the crucial guidance and supervision of a doctor who specializes in holistic medicine, Dr. Pieter DeWet at the Quantum Healing Institute in Tyler, Texas. I found Dr. D through someone who lost some 70 pounds on the program, and I saw the startling difference in him "before" and "after." The timing was right for me to be receptive and interested, which later turned into being locked in and committed. Fortunately, I had no negative effects from the HCG cream or the diet itself.

Once I started the diet, having devoured the entire manuscript by Dr. Simeons, who developed the Beta HCG Diet, I was scared to death to go off of it or deviate from the strict limitations. I didn't want to undo all of the good I was doing, I didn't want to go back to my old, unhealthy way of eating, and I didn't want to keep carrying around a lot of excess weight.

This is a tough diet. I can't emphasize that enough. You have to REALLY WANT IT to stay on it for 41 days in a row with no break whatsoever. I REALLY wanted the results, and I somehow made it through -- twice. (Before you criticize the diet, as I initially did myself, please read Dr. Simeons' manuscript so you understand the background and logic behind it.)

At this point, on my 41st day, today, I am so ready to be released from the limitations of 500 calories and eight small, small items of food each day. It's been a mental challenge, not a physical one. The HCG kept my body from getting hungry. Truly. But I'm so glad I did it.

I've lost 50 pounds on these two rounds of the diet, 25 on Round 1 and 25 on Round 2. The second 25 pounds are the ones that made the huge difference in how I look, how I feel and what I can wear. I lost the weight in the right places, i.e., all over. I feel so much better now. I can get up from a chair much more easily. I can tie my shoes and put on socks without struggling for breath. I look better, more "normal," less morbidly obese. My doctor says that to get where I want to be weightwise, I should go on two more rounds of the diet. I would love to drop another 50 pounds and be truly "normal." We'll see. I want to get through this round fully first.

My work, actually, is just beginning if I am to maintain the loss I've achieved. For the next three weeks, I can eat what I want except for sugars, starches and grains. Then I can add pretty much anything into my diet, because my weight will be "locked in" to a new set point, meaning my weight will want to stay there even if I overeat sometimes. However, I have to be vigilant. I have to weigh myself every day and take immediate action if I gain more than two pounds. I gained zero pounds between Round 1 and Round 2 and I truly did eat what I wanted. But I am going for health, not just weight, so I want to focus on that.

I can just say that I am thrilled to be able to live in a body that feels so much more normal and more like "me" than I have in many years. I'll let you know how I do. Stay tuned.