Rachael Ray and HCG

My Overall Before - January 1, 2010:

My Current - March 9th, 2011
We all have a "Before," but your after is up to you. ~Me :)

As many of you have seen, I am on the Rachael Ray Show for my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with HCG. As I mentioned on the show, I am a personal trainer, but I didn't get to give my opinion, just my experience. My experience with HCG was great. I spent the last year trying different exercise and diet programs to see what I liked best, and what worked for me. As you can see from my pictures, I have lost a total of 60lbs over the last year after struggling with a life time weight issue, having kids, athletics, and being burnt out from the gym. With HCG, I lost 38lbs after being stuck at a plateau. For me, it worked. But in my opinion, HCG is not easy - it has side effects and risks, and is not for everyone. It has drawn a lot of attention lately, even from Dr. Oz ( http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=69016&sitesection=ndnsubss&VID=23353638).

I am not here to say one way or the other, I just want to help educate people, more so on the "after". I just know I have seen the results in myself and others. It isn't a question of whether or not it will work, it is a matter of if it's the actual HCG its self, or the 500 calories. This is something you have to decide for yourself. I have done my own research, and have my personal opinion that it works, but I am just one person. If you chose to do the diet, whether injections or homeopathic, I highly recommend checking with your doctor. I had a full physical and all my blood levels checked before, and didn't have any contraindications.

The HCG diet is considered a temporary fix, but you can make it permanent if you change your lifestyle like I did. Since finishing with HCG, I have discovered the Beachbody programs (P90X, Insanity, TurboJam, Shakeology - http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/CandiceEkberg?bctid=1861298193 ) and even became a coach. I have managed to lose more weight, and tone up significantly! I love the Beachbody company because it allows me to help people that I cannot train in person. Beachbody's and my mission is to "End the Trend" of Obesity. I also want to be able to help any of those that have used HCG to help keep the weight off and change their life style for good. If you are at all interested in Beachbody, don't hesitate to visit my site or contact me (www.beachbodycoach.com/candiceekberg). I have only had 2 personal clients that I train that have chosen to do HCG. One struggled, and after a couple of weeks, decided it wasn't for them. The other succeeded and lost over 30 lbs and has kept it all off since September.

My good friend Natalie has also used HCG, then discovered Beachbody to help keep her weight off and has since become a coach. www.beachbodycoach.com/natalieblundell

This is her story:

"In July 2009 I weighed in at 185 pounds. I am 5'2" and at that weight I looked and felt like a walking blimp. My "BABY" was 2 years old so I couldn't say...."Oh, I just had a baby". I was tired all of the time and had no energy to be mom or a wife. I found HCG. I did 3 rounds of the HCG and in April 2010 I had lost 65 pounds. Now what??? I had to keep my weight off. How was I going to do that? A couple of months went by and my husband came home with P90X. I started the program on May 5, 2010. I loved it and looked forward to exercising everyday. I did not miss a single day. I was eating healthy, keeping my weight off, and best of all had the energy and motivation to be a good mom and wife. Since then, I have done Insanity and am now doing ChaLEAN Extreme. I have also started Shakeology and look forward to drinking it everyday. I love all what Beachbody has done for me to help with my goals."

AFTER - July 2010 (she still looks this great - working on getting a current pic :)

BEFORE - July 2009

Whatever you decide to do, we want to help in any way can! The bottom line is get the weight off!!! Obesity is literally killing us. I'm also an EMT and have had to do CPR and push cardiac meds on people who were sedentary, obese, diabetic, etc. It breaks my heart. I want to be proactive, not reactive. Lets end the trend!!!