Do what works for you . . . BUT . . .

I’m all for telling people to do what works best for them, and I believe that different things work for different people.  All of that said, I’m going to go into my Judgey McJudgerton mode here for a moment.  I’ve considered fad diets, I’ve maybe even tried one or two in the past.  I’ve thought about medical interventions (inter-gastric ballooning seems somewhat reasonable to me), but ultimately, I’ve decided I need to try eating smaller portions of the right foods, and exercising before I try anything too drastic.  And with THAT said (jumping on my soap box) people who try this new fangled HCG diet are absolutely NUTS! 

Okay, go ahead, throw the stones and sticks at me and tell me I’m not supportive.  I am supportive, supportive enough to worry about people who think injecting their bodies with a hormone derived/extracted from placenta, while cutting their diets to 500 calories a day to help them lose weight is a “normal” or “reasonable” method of weight loss. 

First, there’s the fact that this is NOT FDA approved.  I don’t like the FDA, to be honest.  I think their approval methods are crap, and are largely driven by politics and money, and they haven’t approved inter-gastric ballooning either.  Still, this method involves giving yourself shots (for the most “effective” method) or drinking some crazy potion, and then cutting your calories to 500 per day.  These don’t sound relatively low-risk to me.  More importantly, many of the people trying this insane method aren’t even aware it’s not approved.  That alone scares the hell out of me!

Next, let’s address the fact that 500 calories is less than a rabbit eats!  Alright, I admit it, I don’t know if that’s true.  What I do know is that 500 calories is NOT a healthy diet.  You’re not eating “normal” foods, nor normal amounts of them.  OF COURSE YOUR GOING TO LOSE WEIGHT!  Just because the scale goes down doesn’t mean it’s healthy!  Eating 500 calories a day starves your system of the necessary nutrients for muscle building – hell – for muscle maintenance.  Are you going to lose weight? Sure you are.  Is it safe? NO! 

Lastly, and here’s my REAL point – what are these folks going to do when they STOP taking the shots? When they’re left to their own devices to eat healthy, small portion foods to keep the weight off? Have they truly learned how to eat under “normal” circumstances? My understanding is that the shots surpress their appetite, which is why they can eat so little and not go postal.  Have they learned how to indulge at that office party, and then what choices to make so that it doesn’t bounce their weight?  What does this crazy diet do to their blood sugar?  UGH! I could go on and on.

I know four people doing this diet right now.  I’m supportive, but cautiously so.  ONE of these people is thin as a rail, but has maybe . . . 5 pounds to lose.  She isn’t doing 500 calories, she’s cut to 1200, and is doing the drops of HCG.  I’d like to get a hold of the doctor pushing this, the doctor who prescribed this to her, and drop kick him.  She doesn’t NEED an untested, non-approved diet, she needs to lower her intake and up her activity a little.

I’m all for doing what works for you – but please, don’t go out and think that drugs are the answer to one more of life’s little problems.  Come on – be strong, make good choices, and do it the hard way, because when you do it the hard way, eating right and exercising, you’re going to keep it off, and you’re going to appreciate it SO much more!