by INFORUM
Can you really spray your fat away?
August 14, 2011 at 7:00 pm in INFORUM
Critics say HCG diet is a dangerous fad; users consider it a miracle programFARGO A weight-loss fad that claims to spray the fat away might sound like a dream to the millions of Americans who suffer from obesity. Continue Reading
Not saying I’m not proud of her for losing so much weight. She looks awesome! But how quickly will she gain this weight back (plus more) when she realizes spending $300+/month on this spray is rediculous?
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I seriously doubt the spray has anything to do with her weight loss if she truly cut back to only 500 calories a day… she simply starved herself. Unfortunately she’s almost guaranteed to gain that weight back since her body will have kicked into survival mode and started storing even more fat. Losing 1-2 pounds a WEEK is considered a safe rate to lose weight. I certainly hope the Forum follows up with her later just to show the people who will certainly want to follow in her footsteps what a folly this is.
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These people are eating 500 calories a day and they think the SPRAY causes them to lose weight? That is HYSTERICAL! This does not sound particularly healthy.
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I would be passing out on 500 calories a day.
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“It has trace amounts, meaning it has the energy frequency of the HCG in it.”
But does it also work on the quantum level? This is pseudo-scientific babble that doesn’t mean anything. They’re selling you magic beans!
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She should have gotten a gym membership and $40 worth of protein powder per month. She would be actually helping her metabolism and building muscle instead of building dependance on a homeopathic level of a substance found in urine for the offensive price of $300 per month. I can guarantee you the placebo effect has created results in any and every weight loss system. I would love to see when she comes off the stuff, the pounds will stack on like crazy and she will probably be heavier then ever. She took a shortcut to long term failure.
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I dropped 25 pounds in about 6-8 months doing almost this. Didn’t join the gym but started running 4-5 times a week followed by a protein shake. Quit drinking Mountain Dew, ate a light lunch and then a normal supper. Worked pretty good and didn’t cost me much at all. Probably saved money by not spending as much on groceries.
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Eating a healthy breakfast really helps too.
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I’m getting hungry just reading this article.
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It’s always refreshing to see common sense prevail in these comments.
The basics for healthy weight loss haven’t changed much in decades, yet it seems that nobody wants to make the lifestyle changes necessary to truly be fit. Instead they look for for an easy way out with magic pills, gadgets, or programs.
Staying healthy isn’t rocket science. With effort, common sense, and a little education it is within the reach of everybody without resorting to this nonsense.
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News Alert: Consuming less calories than you consume can lead to weight loss.
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Proofreading is your friend
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Go Barb…go!
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Many members of my former dieting support group have branched off and are doing the HCG diet. What scares me more than the cost and “snake oil” aspect is the fanaticism and zeal with which they embrace it. They claim they are NOT HUNGRY because the drops/spray make it so… and they attack anyone who dares tell them the Emperor is naked. And yes, they DO re-gain after they quit, but they tell me it’s intended to be done in as many cycles as you “need” to learn to eat normally again.
I’ll keep whittling away at my fat the “hard” way, thanks.
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I lost 30 lbs over 10 years ago by eating healthy foods and exercising daily. It hasn’t come back either.
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Same here, 50 pounds about 8 years ago. True success requires a lifestyle change. 500 calorie diets don’t lay down a good basis for that, although that’s not to say it isn’t possible.
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Beginning of June I started eating smaller portions, more fruits and vegetables, slightly less meat, and walking daily. I’ve lost 31lbs. I have no set plan and just discipline. This is a complete joke. I would say it would be somewhat useful if you truly plan a lifestyle change but the hormone thing kinda scares me.
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Dr. Oz has become an embarrassment to his profession. He has sold himself out to become a TV star. Saying “the science hasn’t caught up” is just a convenient way of disregarding the evidence.
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This may be the most bogus thing I have read on line lately. Sorry Steve, no sale.
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You are helping people empty their wallets and fill yours!! They spend their hard earned money on this scam so they can not afford to feed themselves, that is how you are helping them loose weight. You are really helping people.
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Steve, I’ve seen your type of scam too many times before.
I’ve seen people put faith in some kind of miracle cure that does nothing but drain their bank accounts and leaves them broke and in the worst cases, dead.
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The spray itself, of course, is not harmful because there is literally nothing in it! Homeopathy is one of the most absurd, unscientific practices that has somehow managed to make it to the 21st century. Maybe you could explain to everyone how the law of infinitetesimals works (the more diluted something is, the more potent it becomes). The article says the bottles are diluted to the point where there is actually no HGC left in it. But it works because the “energy frequency of the HGC” remains. There is no “energy frequency” of the HGC! This is sciency sounding terminology meant to fool people. Homeopathic practitioners would have us believe that water has memory (it doesn’t), but also that it only remembers the good stuff we want it to remember and not all the really disgusting stuff that’s been in it (what about the energy frequencies of the long-gone poo it had in it?).
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I love claims like his about “energy frequency.” As someone who stares at the atomic arrangement of various materials all day every day and models them with quantum mechanics, I have always wondered where such “energy frequencies” are hiding…
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If HCG works, why do you need to add an appetite suppressant?
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Money.
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Money
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Or people who prefer to rely on empirical data.
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I only see one salesman here. Unless you consider your “competition” to be common sense.
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Congratulations on your successful snake oil business! It sounds very rewarding for you. I’m sure you feel that warm, happy glow of altruism every time a customer returns for a second dose after the inevitably gain back every pound they lost.
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Steve, let’s pretend for a moment there was a study that compared weight loss between two different groups of people. The first group was given your spray and appetite suppressants and told to limit calories to 500-800 per day. The second group was given appetite suppressants and told to limit calories to 500-800 per day but was not given your spray. How do you think the results would differ between these two groups and why?
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A reference would be helpful. Regardless, it’s not too difficult to find one study to support your conclusions, but the weight of the evidence is what is more important. From this blog post http://scienceblogs.com/obesitypanacea/2010/03/human_chorionic_gonadotropin_h.php:
“a meta-analysis in the British Journal of Pharmacology examining all of the research on HCG concluded that: ‘there is no scientific evidence that HCG is effective in the treatment of obesity; it does not bring about weight loss or fat redistribution, nor does it reduce hunger or induce a feeling of well-being.’”
Also, I would note that if you’re selling homeopathic HCG, then you aren’t even giving people HCG.
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Steve: in order for that “study” to be credible, you must publish the link. I am guessing you don’t want to because it may not be what you suggest it is. So, challenge…publish the link, let’s see how reputable it is.
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“It is available at our office” that’s all you need to know folks. If he is unwilling to give you a link, it is not in a reputable journal done by reputable scientists. And for a REALLY good time, those of you still interested in this, do Google Kevin Trudeau. I haven’t been this entertained in a long time!
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It’s available in your office but you can’t even give us a reference? If you don’t want people to think you’re a huckster, I would suggest not referencing unpublished research, and certainly not Kevin Trudeau.
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Steve: you just “summarized” this study without attribution. You can publish the name of the doctors and the journal.
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The nice thing about Steve Fitch plagiarizing (that’s exactly what stealing the words of another without proper attribution is) is that it was easy to find his fraud “study.”
It is, of course, from a non-peer-reviewed journal on “alternative medicine.” I won’t provide a link as someone might think such quackery is legitimate science. I can also find no evidence that this “doctor” (from Argentina) is an actual medical professional. It’s also impressive just how complex a web of self-citations he has created with a few of his friends.
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Good work, Andrew…I suspected as much.
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Steve, when we were asking for a reference, we were expecting something like the following:
Lijesen, G.K., I. Theeuwen, W. J. Assendelft, and G. Van Der Wal. The effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity by means of the Simeons therapy: a criteria-based meta-analysis. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 1995 September; 40(3): 237–243.
Young RL, Fuchs RJ, Woltjen MJ. Chorionic gonadotropin in weight control. A double-blind crossover study. JAMA. 1976 Nov 29;236(22):2495–2497.
Both of these studies show HCG does not work for weight loss. Do you have copies of them in your office as well?
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Yep, that’s what I was looking for!
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Not sure where you’re getting 500,000,000 from. The population of the US is about 312,000,000: http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html . I’m pretty sure that overweight people still only count as one person each in the census.
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Where’s the beef?
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The FDA does not approve homeopathic remedies, and it has approved HCG for infertility treatment, not for weight loss.
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What does it mean to be registered with the FDA?
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And yet vitamins tell you exactly what (and how much) is in them. Does your spray?
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So… what (and in what quantities) are the ingredients?
I found a few pictures of the label online and saw no such information. Perhaps you could provide the information for us?
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Andrew, we’ll probably have to go to his office to find out. If it’s truly homeopathic, though, then it is nothing but water. The label should list a number of so-called homeopathic remedies with numbers after them indicating how much they have been diluted. Usually these substances are diluted to the point where they cannot even be detected.
The problem with homeopathic remedies isn’t just that the evidence shows they don’t work but that they can’t possibly work. We know that substances do not become more potent as you dilute them and we know water does not remember any so-called “energy frequencies” of long-gone substances.
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First, the Forum should not be letting Fitch have all this free advertising.
Second, any journalist worth the name could have researched “homeopathic remedies” and reported to readers that there’s a scam going on.
Last, the good Mr Fitch could earm more than million bucks by taking James Randi’s challenge — but he won’t, because he too knows it’s a fraud.
Interested readers can see Randi explain the idiocy of homeopathy here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH93G9U
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That means he knows how to fool people and he knows when other people are doing the same!
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LOLOL.
Kevin Trudeau?
The guy man convicted of larceny and credit fraud?
The one with various Securities & exchange Commission violations?
The subject of numerous FTC fines?
The man who has seen (and been convicted on) numerous contempt of court charges?
He’s a grade A fraud. Scum of the highest degree.
Oh, and here’s the cliff’s notes of his book for those who don’t want to read it all:
The weight loss cure THEY don’t want you to know about? Pay him money to access his website and you’ll find out.
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I do think the Forum owes us an explanation as to why they decided this was newsworthy. While I guess we can appreciate that they discussed the perceived dangers of this type of “diet,” I just don’t think it belongs in a newspaper. Which, oddly enough, should contain NEWS!
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Stevie, I think it would be a good idea to pack up your wagon, fire the medicine man, and get the heck out of town.
The villagers are starting to show up with torches and pitchforks, and if there’s an abandoned windmill in the area, I’d stay away from it!
By the way, “How’s it do on stains?”
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Nice Josie Wales reference! I love that movie.
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HCG weight-loss products are fraudulent, FDA says
http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/fitness/weight-loss-challenge/2011-01-24-hcgdiet24_ST_N.htm
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But Steve came back on line; not to provide a reasonable proof to his critics, but to try to sell more of this, well, whatever it is. He certainly does not think of much of the intelligence of the people in his “loved” hometown.
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Yep. Much easier to convince people in an environment that he controls.
Judging from his responses here, I do actually think that he probably really believed in himself and his product. Hopefully this overwhemlingly one-sided discussion has opened a few eyes. Where he goes from here will be a judge of his integrity and character.
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I think you have that exactly right Pete. I’m guessing the negative votes on comments challenging Steve to offer credible proof are from those who have been convinced (I wanted to use duped, but that may be too harsh.) by the claims made for this product.
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Barnum redux.
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If this is SUCH a GREAT product, then why does it cost SOOOO much for a one month supply?? This could be the families grocery budget for the month. Good grief!!!! Talk about a get rich quick scam.
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Forget spraying your fat away. I have a weight loss program that is GUARANTEED to work. And it’s free.
It’s call EAT LESS, MOVE MORE.
Try it, you will be impressed with the results. And what’s even better, the results are permanent, unlike the crap that this guy is trying to sell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKs0oEIVOck
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My wife and I both went on this diet (with a one month supply of drops of only $40) and lost a good deal of weight in a 3 week period (15-20 lbs each). Both her and I have kept it off as well because it taught us to eat more balanced and smaller portions and drink more water, which is the key to any diet. I agree that it isn’t the drops as much as it is the 500 calorie diet which restricts Carbs for 3 weeks (except some fruit sugars). We weren’t hungry and ate as much as we wanted of fruits/veggies on the diet. We also weren’t OBESE–we just had a little extra “happy hour” weight that we needed to get rid of and this did it. A person who is severely overweight could NOT do this diet because the change in caloric intake from what they were probably used to is so severe. Someone who is just looking for a quick “crash diet” would be a perfect candidate (you can find the drops at natural food stores for fractions of the price–it could be a placebo for all I care, but they help)!
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I was also a personal trainer and have an exercise science degree, so needless to say this went against a good deal of conventional wisdom that I was taught on the subject of weight loss. However, there are a LOT of diet fads, weight loss pills, medicines and exercise equipment that are advertised and are hit or miss. and I would include the drops as one of them. However, I know that from personal experience it has worked in my household and I was happy to do it (and get off of it and keeping the weight off for 5 months so far after by substituting the balanced diet and exercise approach to help maintain the weight we’re at). I can only talk to our experiences though…
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So, Brett, in other words you claim the stuff ‘works’ although you also say you followed a diet regimen that would have worked w/o the spray?
Info you could have gotten free at any public library.
Ask for a refund.
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The 500 cal diet itself is what works, even though the drops may contribute to being a hunger suppressant and also included amino acids (to help aid in not breaking down muscle due to the low calories being consumed). The key is that it is a diet high in fruits, veggies and small amounts of lean meats–if you need a jumpstart into a healthy diet and losing weight quick (while drastic), it works. Can’t say if the 500 cal diet would work without the drops (since I took them), but who cares–it worked and it helped us keep the weight off. Most people on here are saying that the DIET part is unhealthy–I would say NO…it isn’t. You are filling yourself up with “empty” calories high in vitamins (fruits and veggies) and are drinking lots of water. It’s similar to a vegan or cleanse diet really and I was never hungry. It is a KETOSIS diet which simulates starvation (which never really is the case). You can bash the diet all you want–I am just telling you that it worked fpr us. For someone to say “I could have learned that in a library” is preaching to the choir–it is obviously common sense that diet/exercise helps people lose weight. However, it is something that about 95% of our population who is obese (I am exaggerating) doesn’t follow, doesn’t know or just doesn’t care to do either. it’s rather rude to sit here and slam people who try something (whether the drops are the reason or not) when they lost weight on this and helped turn their habits around. Maybe that is the problem with our society in general–we just have to rain on people’s parade when they have successes and try to prove people wrong all the time by interjecting our opinions without having firsthand proof or knowledge. You must be striving to be in politics…
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But I will agree with one thing—I would NEVER pay hundreds of dollars for the drops. I bought mine at a natural food store for $40 for a month supply–similar to what you would pay for protein powder or a week of groceries high in produce. Whether they worked or not–I don’t care…the drops with the diet helped me and my wife lose 20 lbs in 3 weeks (mostly in my midsection). For someone 6 ft tall and around 180 lbs and who works out, that’s not a bad way to knock extra lbs off fast.
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Dear Brett: if you eat a 500 calorie diet, a STARVATION diet, you will lose weight. You may also do harm to your body, which is not designed for such a diet. I do hope you are not recommending this to your clients.
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Um…what “firsthand proof” do you have? Unless you tried the exact same 500 calorie diet with an appetite suppresent and no magic drops, you don’t have any.
The only thing you have proven is that it is possible to lose weight on a starvation diet. Nobody is refuting that.
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Brett — was your “exercise science degree” from a local college? I ask because your comments about homeopathic products, empty calories, and ketosis indicate that you don’t really understand much in that area.
You come over more like a Muscle & Fitness fan than a college graduate.
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Dear Sam:
People do have the right to judge whether a program is healthful or not. I can’t think of a physician that would tell someone to eat a 500 calorie diet. We asked for empirical data, which Steve refused to supply. It is reasonable to expect someone who is making the claims that Steve is to supply the data to back it up.
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Spray your Fat away as a company is robbing people blind! People are desperate to lose weight. I purchased their 60 day plan, have gotten zero support or follow up. I found my own sources that are much less expensive and have someone professional to call.
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They are not helping people…they are lining their own pockets. So, since you are a devotee of this product Sam, I offer the same challenge. Provide a list of links to peer reviewed, reputable known journals that agree with you that this product does what it claims and is safe. Saying that “you have done your research” and that there are “very good doctors and lawyers involved” mean nothing. Will be watching for you to provide the requested information. Otherwise, you make clear that this is nothing but snake oil.
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Our point is that the company IS doing something wrong. Protecting desperate folks from the fraudulent claims of hucksters peddling their magic beans, in my opinion, is time worth spent.
Regarding your previous post, I’m happy for your friend. However, if what he needed was a very low calorie diet, he could have done that without being charged ridiculous sums of money for a spray that consists of nothing but water and has no effect whatsoever other than that of a placebo.
We’re not just going out on a limb to make these claims, we’re basing it on sound science. I know the story of a friend who once tried it sounds compelling, but we learn about these things through properly designed research studies, not anecdotes of people we know. The people selling this stuff could possibly be honest folks who truly believe they are helping people, or they could be knowingly ripping people off, but either way, the claims are fraudulent.
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