HCG Diet

Over the past many months, I have known and heard of many people who are on the HCG diet.  It's hard for me to listen to their dieting plans because I don't believe in diets other than using the food pyramid as a guide to healthy eating and exercising.  Really, healthy eating and exercising is all you need to maintain a healthy body.

HCG, however, has become the new craze because it shows results.  Here's the reasons why it shows results:

• you only get to eat 500 calories a day
• your body is only intaking 500 calories a day
• you are eating healthy, but only intaking 500 calories a day

Currently, my suggested intake is about 1800 calories while 2000 calories is about average.  I am a small girl who is not currently exercising too much so my intake is less than average.  However, keep in mind, it is still 1800 calories.

I wanted to make sure I wasn't just getting huffy about nothing so I checked out a few websites that explained this HCG diet.  I was highly unamused.  Not only did the 500 calories a day bother me, but one website mentioned that there was no need to exercise and if one did choose to exercise, 20 minutes was more than enough.  Just so we're clear, 20 minutes is usually the suggested minimum amount of exercise.

Really, I could go on and on about the problems I have found with this diet but the bottom line is simple:  Yes, it works, but people who are on it are starving themselves and that's why it works.  I understand that this diet is supposed to be changing lifestyles so once you no longer are on the diet, you should still be eating healthy, and I see where they are going with this, however, only eating 500 calories a day is just simply not good for a body.

So my advice is to not do this diet.  Your body actually wants more than 500 calories.  If you are really interested in losing weight, I would suggest eating healthy - look to the food pyramid for guidance.  Remember to eat a "normal" portion.  As much as I could go to my local burger shop and eat 5 burgers, I eat one.  I try to eat until my brain says, "Yep, your stomach just hit a good level of fullness," and then I stop.  There's no point in eating until I feel like I can't move and I need a nap because I've just eaten so much.  It's just not good for the body.  And remember to exercise.  I recently had a new addition to my family, a little baby, and I do plenty of baby lifts, plenty of walking around the house showing her all the pictures and things, and plenty of laughing (which is really one of the best ways for a longer, happier life).  I make exercise work for my lifestyle and I think everyone can, you've just got to put forth the effort and find what works best for you.