Does anyone have any experience using the HCG Weight Loss plan?

HCG is short for human chorionic gonadotropin, the hormone found in pregnant women's urine. The diet uses drastically reduced calories and daily injections of HCG.

Here's a bit of how it works, from "How Stuff Works:"

HCG may play many roles, but one function it performs is guaranteeing that a developing fetus receives the calories and nutrients it needs to grow, nearly independent of the daily caloric intake of the pregnant woman in those early developmental months. How does it do this?

We aren't ravenous for fatty foods for no reason. Our bodies like to maximize caloric intake in case lean times are ahead. In the case of women, excess calories tend to wind up in "problem" areas such as the hips, buttocks, abdomen and thighs. However, once pregnant, fat from these areas is released in the presence of hCG, and this fat then makes its way to the fetus. This way, if a woman doesn't consume the nutrients needed for fetal growth, her fat reserves will suffice. (Structural fat, such as that found in the face or layered beneath the entire skin, isn't affected.)

And:

In addition to receiving shots, dieters are instructed to cut their daily intake of calories to 500 a day, but not until after the third shot. Once the hCG is active in a dieter's body, its release of long-stored fat provides the body with the calories it needs to burn to get through a day (a day, it should be noted, without much exercise). As long as fat deposits are being released for use, the 500 daily calories being ingested is supposed to be enough to sustain the dieter without the crazy hunger pangs one would normally experience on a 500-calorie diet. Once a dieter drops the excess weight, the treatment must stop, because hCG only affects stored fat. Once that's used up, the body will quickly reject a self-imposed limit of 500 total daily calories.

If you would like to read more:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/health-illness/wellness/physical-fitness/weight-loss/hcg-diet.htm

Get the full Simeon Protocol, its available on the internet, and Kevin Trudeau's book Natural Cures, offers some current subsitutions. B-12 Injections boost energy and help with fat burning, and is a combination of B vitamins- I used to take B12 when I was rebuilding my immune system. I am not familiar with the idea of apple day or steak day- I used the Simeon, a 500 calorie a day diet, and certainly completed phases 3 and 4. I also used the yerba mate tea, from Kevin's book. Do the research for the best results, the shots will give you good results, but completely following the protocol will reset your fat burner for life...

What is the B12 Lipo injections? I haven't yet heard of that. I'm hearing things like "apple day" for plateaus and "steak day" for something to do with Phase 3, but nothing about B12 Lipo injections.

I completed the diet earlier this year, and I can't sing its praises enough. I had put on a tremendous amount of weight (steroid treatment) while a slew of doctors failed to diagnose mold toxicity. After a year of recovery, (mostly) I still had to deal with the damage to my body and my appetite. Plus now, I developed a hypersensitivity to a lot of the things I was eating at the time I poisoned.

But the diet surpassed all my expectations, and not only did I lose weight, but my body frame appeared to strink, and my skin, and hair were healthier than ever before. I lost 45 lbs on the program, using the Simeon Protocol. There were no side affects, and the severely reduced calorie intake was not a problem. Before the diet, my appetite and cravings were out of control. I never really craved sweets or salts, but I like meats- hearty meals. Anyway, my appetite was totally changed after the diet, done properly, it is suppose to reset your hypothalmus- I felt it did just that. Unfortunately, last month really wrecked my diet, and I put on about 8 lbs, and I am considering another round of treatment in the spring. I didn't do the B12 Lipo injections which everyone said really made a difference. My stomach went from a look of about 7 months pregnant to flat, and I mean flat- I was thrilled.... and I will be again soon. And you lose weight in all those hard to lose places first, my thighs, under my chin, my face thinned, my upper arms, and those rolls around your back. I look great now, but I won't every forget how great a flat stomach felt and looked. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. Also, some of the programs out there are incredibly expensive, but I was able to find one that was very reasonable.