- Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania, 48, revealed that she lost 25 pounds on the controversial HCG diet.
- The HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) diet requires daily injections of the HCG hormone and eating around 500 calories per day.
- Doctors say it's not really an effective weight loss strategy because you often gain it all back.
This weekend, tonsss of Bravo celebrities gathered in NYC for the first ever Bravocon, where reality stars from pretty much every Bravo show took part in panels in front of revved-up live audiences. And Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania, 48, showed off her recent 25-pound weight loss during an event with costar Teresa Giudice.
She opened up to People about how she's used the controversial HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) diet to achieve her recent weight loss. (FYI: HCG is a hormone women naturally produce while pregnant and is FDA-approved for use in treating infertility.)
"I lost 25 pounds," she said. "I’m a yo-yo dieter. Food is my vice, it’s comfort for me. I grew up eating not the healthiest food. I’ve always struggled, so now I found, I had to just get a grip."
ICYDK, the controversial HCG diet limits your calorie intake to 750 (or less) per day and requires daily injections of the HCG hormone. The eight-week diet, which originally hit the weight loss scene back in the 1970s, combines those injections—along with a very low 500-calorie daily diet—for shockingly rapid weight loss, Bethany Doerfler, MS, RD, clinical dietitian at Northwestern Memorial Hospital previously told Women's Health.
So...is the HCG diet actually effective and safe? Short answer: Not really.
"But the HCG injections don’t contribute or augment the pound-shedding process, nor do they counteract the negative effects of a super-low calorie diet like a slowed-down metabolism or muscle loss," Spencer Nadolsky, MD, a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine and author of The Fat Loss Prescription, previously told Women's Health.
The HCG diet results in losing weight primarily from muscle, rather than fat, which in turn sets the body up for a slowed metabolic rate and—get this—weight gain. Plus, since the diet is only temporary, you will gain everything back—and then some, Nadolsky says.
According to Dolores though, it's worth it. "You get small injections every day, but it’s really not bad," she said. "You’re only allowed 750 calories for 45 days, but you lose 30 pounds. It’s worth it."
The reality TV star also detailed what she eats on the HCG diet. "The first two days of the diet, you load and eat whatever you want," she said. "Then you start the egg whites in the morning, 6 ounces of protein, an apple for lunch."
And she apparently has no regrets about trying the controversial diet. "I’m glad I did it," she said.
Emily Shiffer has worked as a writer for over 10 years, covering everything from health and wellness to entertainment and celebrities. She previously was on staff at SUCCESS, Men's Health, and Prevention magazines. Her freelance writing has been featured in Women's Health, Runner's World, PEOPLE, and more. Emily is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she majored in magazine journalism at the Medill School of Journalism and minored in musicology. Currently residing in Charleston, South Carolina, Emily enjoys instructing barre, surfing, and long walks on the beach with her miniature Dachshund, Gertrude.
