Scared for a Friend - Extreme Dieting

Very scary! Whatever happened to good old eating healthy, eating a little less, and exercising a little more? 30 pounds just doesn't seem like that much to me that he should go to such extremes?

He should watch Fat Sick and Nearly Dead documentary. It's on Netflix. It's been saving a lot of people's lives with the raw juice/veggie fasts. One morbidly obese man lost over 200 lbs in a few months.

Recipes can be found here:
http://jointhereboot.com/

I know someone doing that HGC diet and she still eats, although I think it's weird.

It is the HCG diet. It is a very popular thing right now.

That sounds like the HCG diet . . . I've never done it but I've read about it. To me it sounds extreme, and I'm more of a proponent of tough work-outs and sensible caloric intake.

Maybe you could ask him to get a 2nd opinion on the safety of that protocol?

There are a number of those weight loss centers down here where I live.

I saw this on Good Morning America a few weeks ago. Their doctor was saying that it's not healthy and not a preferred method of losing weight. I can't believe a doctor would recommend this. Just thinking realistically, after your friend loses the weight what's to keep him from just gaining it back immediately? He hasn't learned how to eat healthy or how to control his diet or urge to eat. That just doesn't make sense to me. I hope your friend will reconsider this treatment.

My daughter's piano teacher did it and he dropped like 70 pounds in 1 1/2 months. It is very extreme and not healthy. If he can do this why can he not just eat healthier? The biggest loser resort in Malibu, CA tells people they are supposed to eat at least 1200 calories a day to be healthy and lose weight. My brother, mom and sister went for 2 weeks and when they came back my brother had lost 30 lbs in TWO WEEKS. But it was by hard workouts all day long and eating right at 1200 calories everyday. I don't think people should mess with hormones. it can be dangerous.

I have a friend who has done the HCG diet, but with homeopathic drops. She has lost over 40 lbs and down 5 dress sizes in the last 9 months.
Saying that, I just met with Dr. Esselstyn who wrote "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure".
He has had great success with a plant based diet. His son wrote the Engine 2 diet.
You might want to pass the info. onto your friend. Dr. E is a cardiac surgeon based at the Clevland Clinic.

i actually read up on this also. it's the HCG diet. i looked into doing it myself. you can get the stuff to inject yourself on ebay or amazon. it's good that he's going thru the dr for it. it apparently does work. you have loading days where you can eat what you want. and then when you start the diet you have an approved lists of food that you can eat. after the diet has finished it's phases, you slowly start to incorporate other foods. if you start to gain weight, you have to start scaling back again. i decided not to do it, because it's definitely not something that i could do long term. the amount of calories is on par with what an anorexic is getting in a day. the toll on the body to me would be dangerous. it is a severly restrictive calorie/food diet.

i really don't think that it is a good thing even if it works temporarily. the posts that i read, people were on the 2nd and 3rd times doing it because the weight would not stay off.

It's the HCG diet and my one friend does it. It makes me nervous when she does. It is extreme dieting and it's not healthy. Thousands of people swear by it, but IT'S NOT HEALTHY!

The only thing I would suggest is to Google "HCG diet risks" and then send him the information. Only he can decide what he's going to do, but he needs to be presented with all of the information.

report this doctor to the medical board in his state, check on this doctors medical records, there is something wrong here and your friend could end up dead because of this doctor "helping" him.
K. h.

I agree that just b/c it's popular doesn't make it good. Like when the no carb thing was in. We need carbs for energy.. just need to make smart choices. I can't live w/out bread, but I do eat whole grain. I hate all the commericals for dieting pills and quick fix ideas. I think a healthy diet and exercise are the way to go! I can't believe he's only taking in 500 calories! Most dieters shoot for 1000 at the least!!!

Good for you to be concerned about your friend. I think this is extreme and could cause a lot of problems. Food is our fuel. We need it.

My cousin's daughter did this in order to lose weight to fit into her wedding dress.... she ended up pregnant before the wedding... not that your male friend would end up pregnant, but I just don't think it's healthy to mess with hormones and natural body functions.
Eat less, excercise more, works every time!

Just found out that my cousin's daughter who became pregnant while on this diet by the calendar is 7 weeks pregnant but the baby is only measuring 4 weeks - I hope for her sake and the baby that all is ok, but it just goes to show that messing with nature usually lends itself to poor results :(

I have a few friends that have done/are doing the HCG diet. The injections cause your body's metabolism to increase. My friends haven't mentioned only eating 500 cals though, I think they are just supposed to eat healthy and avoid junk and increase exercise.