Changes and the hCG Diet

Ross and I aren't exactly the type of people who like to make changes slowly. I mean, immediately following our wedding and honeymoon last year, we moved 1,000 miles north, got settled into a new job (Ross), and started a new school in pursuit of a new career in nursing (Kelly). One week I was an engaged, working gal in SoCal who was living with roommates, and the next I was a newlywed and newly-enrolled student in Portland... and living with a boy, to top it all off. However, we made it through the first 19 months of marriage in one piece, and I ended up finishing all of my nursing pre-requisites. Whew!

Then came our next set of changes. After lots of discussion and prayer, we decided to move back down to California so that I could pursue nursing school here. My hope is to be accepted to either an ADN or BSN program here in town or in the LA area. We just figured that there are more affordable schooling opportunities in the immediate area than there were in Portland. Plus, we are able to stay with family for awhile while we figure out where we will eventually be landing. We also made the big decision to do something about the extra pounds we packed on during the past 19 months. I mistakenly thought that it was only the husband who gains weight as a newlywed (because he's eating his wife's wonderful cooking, of course). Wrong. Between my baking of sweets, late night walks to the 7-11 for ice cream, and general inactivity, it was a recipe for disaster and we are paying the price now with some scary numbers on the scale.

We first heard about the hCG diet from my FIL, who completed a round of the program under the watchful eye of a nutritionist. He had fantastic results, but despite that, I remained skeptical about the program for awhile. As an anatomy and physiology student, I didn't understand how a hormone that is found in pregnant women could be safe for consumption in weight loss programs. It seemed bizarre to me, and I didn't feel 100% confident adding some strange hormone to my body. Still, the idea remained in the back of my mind until I heard that my aunt and cousin had done a similar program using homeopathic hCG. They, too had fantastic results.

So, Ross and I have decided to give this hCG thing a shot. The financial risk is minimal, compared to other weight loss systems out there, so we thought we'd give it a try. Also, contrary to what I originally thought, hCG is not some new fandangled approach to losing weight. The original program was created by British physician A.T.W. Simeons and has been used to treat obesity for 40+ years. Through the next several weeks, we really hope that our bodies will detox from all of the crud we've been eating and that we will be retrained to choose whole foods instead of processed junk. This blog will serve to chronicle our journey with hCG, including what we are eating, drinking, etc. More information about hCG and the program can be found in Dr. Simeons manuscript, Pounds and Inches, and it explains the whole protocol in much greater detail than I'm able to.