About a month or so ago, I signed up for the Dr. B diet. I lost nearly 20 lbs so far, but about a week ago I decided to drop the program(Too darn expensive!), but keep going with the diet nonetheless. I still take the pills recommended, and my intake never exceeds how much it should be. However, I am beginning to doubt my health in this diet. My shoulder-blade is starting to ache, and despite taking my potassium pills, I'm still getting dizzy spells. I'm afraid that without the injections I might not lose as much as I should.

Typically, the diet spans from 600-800 calories daily, as far as I know. I'm just wondering if it's safe to keep going with the diet at this point, even though I'm no longer tracked by doctors, and no longer have the injections?

From what i know, B-12 injections they give you, are just that..B12..so why not buy a B12 vitamin supplement to supplement your diet with? Ultimately, B12 helps with water retention so it can do no harm.

and no - it is NOT safe to follow a VLCD (very-low-calorie-diet) without medical supervision.

but frankly, i don't know why you don't just see your family doctor: that's what i do - pop 'round every thursday for weigh-in and blood and urine workups every 4wks.

@Porthardygurl: one of the 2 pill bottles was a B12 supplement. Maybe I can have 2 pills per day instead of 1(the diet wanted 1, when the actual recommended intake was 2) to make up for the injection sessions.

@threenorns: That sounds like a neat idea. I haven't even thought about it! I'm sure my doctor will disagree about the diet itself, but as long as I'm still breathing, I suppose there's no problem!

you're actually getting very very close to where you're going to have to stop anyway.

VLCD only works when you have a significant amount of fat to lose. when you're as big as i am (f.ex), the "2lb/wk" week rule doesn't apply. however, as your bodyweight decreases, you will hit a point where the diet doesn't work any more. your eating goes out of control because you cannot resist the cravings and hunger any more.

according to your stats, you've got less than 50lbs to lose - this is about the point you might want to consider tapering your calories upward to a more normal level. this is how you prevent backlash and yo-yoing which is what will happen if you ride the train to the end of the track: ka-boom and it's ice cream wrappers all over the place. instead, bring the train to a graceful stop at the proper station and you will have lasting results.

i suggest you start - soon! - by increasing your calories by 150/day. either add an extra meal/snack, or divvy it up within your existing schedule or something. after 2wks, add another 150/day. and so on until you're at your proper weight (YES, you will continue to lose weight!) and maintenance calories.

@threenorns: Thanks a lot! I never really looked at it that way. The diet typically disallows certain types of foods, like egg yolk, pears, brown rice, etc - so I'm actually terrified of including anything of that sort to the calorie count. But I'll try nonetheless. Myfitnesspal was ridiculously easy to do, now that I got around to seeing it!

i was gonna say something but i'll leave it at "i don't approve of any of the hcg-format diets" (the B-12 shots were originally HCG shots)


i love online calorie trackers - makes it ridiculously easy to plan out a menu.