Heavy individuals have to spend more on health care—pretty straightforward. The more you weigh, the more likely you are spending more on not only health care, but also on weight loss programs, supplements, and diets. Worse, you may perpetually spend money only to find yourself at the same weight in which you began. According to the National Business Group on Health, the annual medical expenditure for a person with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 is $1,938, BMI of 30 $2,086, BMI of 35 $2,963, BMI of 40 $5,510 and BMI of 45 over $13,000! Worse, employers will generally charge individuals with higher BMI extra for their health insurance. Did you know if you are overweight and you lose 10 percent of your body weight, you will significantly improve your health even if you are still overweight?
Challenges of Weight Loss
Unfortunately, trying to lose weight on your own and keep it off without professional guidance is difficult. Worse, there is no real one stop shopping for a true overall approach to weight loss. Here are the numbers:
The cost per pound of the “Big Three” major commercial weight loss programs Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, and Jenny Craig was reported in a June 2011 Money Magazine report. Weight Watchers averaged $97/pound, NutriSystem averaged $130 to $139/pound, and Jenny Craig averaged $131 to $174/pound. They also looked at a generalized dietitian-tailored diet which averaged $118 to $126/pound. In general, all of these programs have been shown in studies to work in the short course. None of these, however, offers physician directed evaluation of how your physiology and hormones are affecting your difficulty for weight loss. So if you have an undiagnosed pre-hypothyroid condition, a low testosterone issue, low Vitamin D levels, which directly affects how insulin drives glucose into every cell in your body, a pre-diabetes issue, or other combination of endocrine issues, then you are throwing money away. Do you see yourself eating NutriSystem food for the rest of your life? What is the plan to maintain the weight loss you have worked for with each of these systems?
Benefits of the hCG Protocol
On the hCG protocol, the average cost per pound would be between $40 to $50. What do you get with the hCG protocol that you don’t with the “Big Three?” You get a physician’s direct involvement, a full evaluation of a complete metabolic blood panel, you get true metabolism improvement, and you get the tools to maintain your weight loss without having to do the protocol. Now this is an unfair comparison to the “Big Three.” The hCG Protocol is not meant to be followed as a standard diet to maintain the weight loss. It is meant to improve your metabolism with medical supervision, but that is what you want. More importantly, the ability to maintain that weight loss as you age.