Tag: Dr Simeons HCG Protocol for weightloss

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How the HCG Diet Plan Works to Annihilate Your Weight Loss Goals

How the HCG Diet Plan Works to Annihilate Your Weight Loss Goals

The HCG diet is an extreme diet that claims to help people lose up to 2 pounds a day!

People claim you also won’t feel hungry on this diet. Is this diet for real? Or is it too good to be true?

Read on to learn all about the HCG diet plan.

What is HCG?

HCG is an acronym for human chorionic gonadotropin. This is a naturally occurring hormone that is present in a woman’s body when she is pregnant.

This is one of the hormones a pregnancy test detects to give a positive reading. Doctors can also use HCG to treat fertility issues.

So, how does this help with weight loss?

Followers of the HCG diet claim that this hormone boosts metabolism and helps you lose large amounts of fat — all without feeling hungry.

Let’s look at the outline of the HGC diet plan.

The HGC Diet Plan

The HCG diet is a very low-fat, very low-calorie diet. On this diet, you will eat only 500 calories per day during the weight loss phase.

Typically, the weight loss phase lasts anywhere from three to six weeks depending on how much weight you want to lose.

To follow this diet, you will only eat two meals a day — usually lunch and supper. There are various HCG meal plans out there. They state that you should eat a lean protein, a vegetable, a fruit and a piece of bread at each meal.

While on this diet, you should drink lots lots of water. You will avoid butter, oils, and sugar.

Now let’s look at the three phases of the HCG diet.

Phase 1

This first phase is for two days. During these days, you can eat as much as you want without limits. You will also start to take the HCG supplements.

During phase 1, you will drink at least a gallon of water each day.

Phase 2

In this portion of the diet, you will decrease the calories you eat each day to 500 calories per day.

The faster you get to the 500-calorie limit, the sooner you will start to shed unwanted pounds.

As we mentioned, phase two can last up to six weeks at a time. You must not eat any foods that contain fats. This phase is the most challenging phase of the diet. If you follow the strict parameters of this meal plan, you will drop unwanted weight quickly.

Then in the maintenance phase, you will keep the weight off for good.

Phase 3

Phase three is about rebuilding your daily caloric intake, finally bringing you to around 1,500 calories per day.

You will still need to avoid sugar and starch for three weeks as you gradually increase your calorie intake.

Be careful, you don’t want to gain back the weight you worked so hard to lose. Increase your water intake during this phase.

If you want to lose more weight, you can start at phase 1 and do the diet all over again.

Final Thoughts

There you go! A look at how the HCG diet plan works.

Remember, if you have any health conditions, you should contact your doctor before beginning an extreme diet such as this one.

Now, check out our HCG dosage guide to help you find the right dose for you.

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The Skinny on HCG Side Effects

HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. HCG helps to utilize the nutrients in the fat stores of our bodies. In this way nourishment is provided on demand whenever needed.

How it Works

Basically, HCG dieters follow a seriously high caloric feast the first two or 3 days of the HCG diet. This is the fun part. If you have been following these blogs, you know you can eat just about anything at all.

Total fun fest.

Pizza, burgers, hot dogs, potato chips, you name it.
It can be right there on the table.

No holds barred.

Then, things get serious.

Following the loading phase, during the next 3 weeks your caloric intake is a strict 500 calories per day.

Foods rich in sugar and starch must be avoided. Remember, simple starches contain sugar; or rather they convert to sugar. A fresh baked baguette, for example even topped with salad remains off limits.

During this phase you must take the HCG injections. HCG supplies will provide you with everything you need to administer the HCG hormone (purchased separately).

A Stabilization phase or Phase 3 reintroduces some of the foods cut from your diet in Phase 2.

During this phase you may discover some foods enjoyed before such as bread, pizza, dairy; you’re now sensitive to. Feelings of sluggishness and general moodiness may indicate that a reintroduced food or its ingredients are no longer right for your body.

Remember, you have essentially detoxed your body from additives including sugars, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, MSG, and simple starches.

Phase 4 is the phase where you will eat for life. So in other words, your new diet is now your lifestyle. During phase 3 you should have realized what foods work for you now and which do not.
But what if any are the side effects?

Preparation is Key

There is no denying that this weight loss program has worked wonders for many who have reported weight loss of between 15, 20 and even 30lbs during the three-week weight loss phase.

The use of HCG hormone is meant to maintain muscle mass and properly redistribute the body fat during the weight loss phase. HCG may also help to prevent loose and sagging skin from dieting. This is the benefit of the HCG hormone. Without the hormone, dieters may lose muscle mass in addition to fat, resulting in rapid weight gain after the program ends, even with a continued modified diet.

Muscle burns fat, so maintaining muscle increases the likelihood of maintaining weight loss after the program ends. This is particularly true with dieters following healthy food choices and continuing workout programs afterwards. Weight training is great because the anaerobic activity continues to boost metabolism after the workout has ended.

Cynics argue that weight loss has more to do with the calorie restriction and nothing to do with the HCG hormone. Those in favor of the founder, Doctor Simeons’ Protocol, argue the results and the benefit of the HCG program were suppressed by mainstream diet companies and researchers from around the 1970’s onwards. They suggest that today it is presented as an unconventional and new diet when in fact it has been around for over 60 years.

Clearly, there will be food cravings. It seems we are programmed to crave something we can no longer have. Tell a child not to eat the cookies before dinner, and you can bet from that moment, all the child thinks about is eating cookies before dinner even if they hadn’t thought about cookies all day!

This is not to suggest that you shouldn’t modify a busy routine. Nobody is suggesting your usual 3 hours a week Zumba. In fact, it is discouraged. What is recommended is gentle exercise. Additionally, nobody suggests tackling this diet while pregnant, or planning to become pregnant. Common sense should always win out.

Nutritional Deficiencies?

The misconception with HCG diet plan is nutritional deficiency. There are plenty of meal plans available. In fact, HCG Supplies offers a free download to help you with your diet plan.

The HCG diet even allows you to eat steak, shrimp, even lobster. What it does not allow you to do is to eat the entire cow, the entire lobster and an entire catch of shrimp.

So sure, if you’re used to loading your plate at every single meal, you may experience some hunger. Remember, for the health of your life, you are trying to retrain your brain to smaller portions, and a healthy approach to eating.

The HCG diet allows you to eat fruit and vegetables, even a few small crackers. The 500 calories are spread throughout the day with the injections taken at the same time each day. You are encouraged to drink plenty of water. You are also able to drink black coffee and unsweetened black tea.

Swinging Moods

Mood swings are another concern with critics of the HCG diet. But think of it this way. You are removing excess sugars and additives from your system. This may include alcohol, preservatives, and MSG. That can come as a shock to a body used to consuming those things regularly.

Some of those food and drink choices may have been a habit; they may even have been addictive.

Sugar, for example can be very addictive.

Think about that 2:00pm chocolate fix. Prior to starting the diet, you may not normally have eaten lunch, but you would have an afternoon chocolate bar. That is your habit. You don’t think of it as an addiction but, if you are dependent on it to get through the afternoon….

The same goes for the 5:00 o’clock wine and spirits when you arrive home after a crazy day at work. These routines become habits, potentially altering the brain chemistry.

Psychologically, if your attitude on the HCG diet is one of deprivation then our mood is going to bottom out even more. Attitude can really be everything.
Your HCG diet brain is rebelling. It is doing absolutely everything possible in order to survive.

We are hardwired to not like change. It keeps us safe. It keeps us warm. It maintains everything we know and trust.

It’s called survival.

So even though we want to eat healthy, even though we know we want to lose weight, even though our brain says, yes let’s do this, behind our back, it does everything it can to sabotage our efforts. Hence the mood swing as we reach for a treat that is no longer there.

Understanding the psychology can help us get through those moments. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, so long as you know why it’s there.
Remember, you are removing toxins and bad habits from the body.

Now, a disclaimer. If you have a history of depression, anxiety, or any other medical condition, consult with your doctor before embarking on this or any diet.

At the end of the day, where the real side effect is weight loss, and a healthy approach to nutrition and portion control, what is there to lose? The answer is pounds and inches.

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HCG Diet Phase Four. Welcome to Food!

Congratulations! You made it. You absolutely did it. What a journey it has been. From the early days of Phase One, when, in between bites of anything you wanted, you wondered what Phase Two would be like. To the re-imagining of yourself during Phase Three when you carefully began redesigning your eating habits toward a more permanent, balanced lifestyle.

Here you are at Phase Four of your HCG Diet Protocol. Awesome.

But wait! What exactly is Phase Four? Does this mean there are more restrictions? Do I have to up my intake of the HGC hormone? Do I have to eat a plate full of weird looking green pasta from a health shop?

No. Because Phase Four is all about re-entering the so called real world of food, and learning to make educated, healthy choices during normal dining experiences with friends and family.

Getting Out Again

During the three previous phases, chances are, you might have stayed home a bit more. Particularly if this was your first time cycling through the diet plan. Outside of any lunch breaks with your co-workers, you might have felt a bit odd sitting in a restaurant, turning down just about everything on the menu, much to the annoyance of family and friends.

Phase Three meant you were able to start re-introducing certain foods back into your diet, while watching for carb, dairy, and sugar sensitivities, their reaction on your weight, and overall wellbeing. Phase Three was also about slowly rebuilding your daily caloric intake, finally bringing you to around 1,500 calories per day depending on the demands of your lifestyle; highly physical or fairly sedentary.

Think of Phase Four as the phase without an end. This is how you eat going forward. Essentially, now you are responsible for maintaining a healthy weight and to continue figuring out what meals are best going to help you stay on goal.

For some dieters, this can seem intimidating. The previous three phases offered the support of a structure. No matter how many times we might have railed against the caloric restriction, or the Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG) shots, now we are standing out there alone; we appreciate the structure we once had.

Maintenance Level

No diet comes without maintenance. The HCG Diet Protocol helped get you to your goal. The goal however, is not to remain at Phase Three or Phase Two forever. It is important to continue making the healthy choices at the right portions similar to the final week of Phase Three where you reached almost 2,000 calories per day.

Fail to maintain and you could be pulling those fat jeans back out of the closet again!

Maintenance though, does not have to be a challenge. Think about it, just being on the HGC Diet Protocol, you are already aware of what you are putting into your body and how it affects your mood, water retention and other factors. During Phase Three where a careful reintroduction of food types took place, you might have discovered a sensitivity to some foods. Prior to being on the diet, you were unaware of the negative effects on your body that certain foods may have had, due in large part to their being just lumped in with everything else you were eating at that time.

Now, with greater awareness, you have a default structure built in, and it is this structure that will maintain your path to continued success.

Still a Diet?

Don’t think of Phase Four as a diet per se. You are literally eating for life. As in better long-term health with more energy to do the things you enjoy doing. Eating well through nutritiously dense calories packed with protein, vitamins, and micro nutrients just makes sense!

So, instead of telling people you are on a diet, tell them, this is your diet instead. Far more empowering, giving you more control over how you view the new lifestyle emerging from your weight loss.

Check your Labels

Restrict all processed foods as much as possible, but if you absolutely must, check labels for salt, fats, and sugar. Go for fresh and if possible, organic every time. Allow a little extra time for grocery shopping, so you can check labels. Salad dressings are notorious for high sugar in the form of fructose. Oil or vinegar-based dressings are always going to be better for you.

Stay clear of fast food restaurants, and avoid simple carbohydrates like white bread, pasta, bleached flour, rice, and sugary foods. Anything that is refined. As you introduce foods back into your digestive system, opt for whole grain, fresh fruit, and vegetables. In fact, your carbohydrates should ideally come from these.

Research on line for foods that you like, as well as recipes. Check your HCG Supplier for recipe downloads and tips. Nowadays there are some great savory and sweet food combination ideas for just about every diet out there. HCG is no exception!

Join an on-line HCG Diet support group where you and others can share your HCG Protocol journey along with others. Groups can be a great support, especially if you have fallen off a little bit during a special occasion.

Treat Yourself!

Not with food! Now that you have squeezed into your ideal size, it might be tempting to throw everything aside for a day or two and indulge. After all, you tell yourself; you have earned it!

While, undoubtedly you have, indulging in carbs and sugary foods will only lead to feelings of self-doubt and guilt later on. Not to mention the possible revisiting of a pound or two or more.

Instead, treat yourself to a new dress or a new pair of jeans. Something that makes you feel good and showcases the dedication you have put into transforming your life.

Get Appy

Apps and websites are great resources to help you stay on track. Phase Four is all about setting up for continued success, so yes, there will be calorie counting. Apps and websites can give you a complete calorie, fat, and nutritional breakdown of each of the different foods you want to eat. If possible, download one or two of these apps onto your device or smart phone, so that no matter where you eat, you remain in control of your healthy lifestyle.

So here we are. Phase Four. Reach out to your HCG supplier for information about meal planning, recipe ideas, and calorie counting.

You have come this far. You’ve got this. Trust me.

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Life After Phase Two: Embracing Phase 3 of the HCG Diet

You have stuck at it! — The first two phases of the HCG Diet. Let’s recap quickly. Phase One where you front loaded as many calories as you wanted, was probably the best two or three days of the diet so far. Tainted only by your concerns regarding Phase Two; the caloric restrictions, and maybe the odd worry about how you would fare during this time.

But you got through it. By now, after several weeks on Phase Two you should notice more energy, and less craving for sugary foods and starches. Additionally, the headaches you might have experienced at the beginning of Phase Two, as your body adjusted to the caloric restrictions, may have gone now. Overall, you may be feeling more energized than you have felt in a long while.

So, you are about to enter Phase Three of your HCG Diet. This is where we begin re-introducing certain foods back into our food choices. Because we have cut out so many of the foods during the HCG Protocol, this is a great time to pay close attention to the way your body feels, i.e bloated, or less energy as you reintroduce small portions of the food back into your diet. After eating certain foods, any departure from an overall sense of wellbeing could indicate a food sensitivity, and one that may best be avoided as you move beyond the HCG Diet Protocol.

As always, whenever there are medical questions concerning your health or response to food, seek medical advice.

An Important Phase

Phase Three can be a volatile period simply because your body is now beginning to readjust to something closer to normal eating patterns. Think of this phase of as the start of eating for life. It is very important therefore to continue a disciplined approach to food choices. From this day forward you are committing to healthy food portions, and choices that reflect your health and wellness goals.

Think about it for a moment. Your body has just experienced profound weight loss over a very short period of time. You may have lost anywhere between 20 to 50 pounds! Now here’s the important thing to remember. With most extreme weight loss diets as soon as the dieter resumes normal eating habits, the weight piles back on, with likely even more on top.

Because during your diet, you incorporated HCG, or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, hormone into your diet plan, muscle loss will be negative compared with most diets following similar caloric restrictions. Muscle helps burn calories, helping to support a higher metabolism. In short, so long as you continue to observe the recommended food choices while on the Protocol, your weight should remain stable to within a pound or two.

Why a Third Phase?

As mentioned above, assuming you remained true to the Dr. Simeons’ protocol, you have lost a significant amount of weight. Phase Three is intended to accomplish three things:

  1. To help stabilize your weight after losing a large amount.
  2. Give your digestion a chance to adjust itself back to more normal eating habits.
  3. To help you pin down possible food sensitivities, any of which may have contributed to the weight gain, bloating, and lethargy that took you down the HCG path to begin with!

Size Does Matter

On-line searches fail to present a particularly united front on the amount of food or caloric intake on Phase Three, leading many to fear a return of the weight they worked so hard to lose. What is clear, is Dr Simeons, the founder of the HCG Diet Protocol, realized there were dieters who, having consumed only 500 calories per day for three weeks, were afraid to leave Phase Two for fear of weight gain.

What is clear is that portion size generally, has increased since Dr. Simeons’ day , so we may need to take a look at just how much food we are putting onto our plates. This is a good guide going forward anyway, since, particularly in America, there is a tendency toward filling our plates to the edge, leading to the inevitable consumption of more than we really need.

Aside from the obvious commitment to the removal of sugars or starches from our diet, consider putting less food onto the plate. To get used to this, place your food onto a smaller plate. A plate reserved normally for salads, for example would do fine. Purely from a psychological perspective, if your plate is full, your brain will think you have the same amount of food as a large plate!

This approach might also be a helpful tool in resetting your digestion. Generally speaking, following on from caloric restriction, the body is not particularly well equipped to consume large amounts of food straight away. By adding food back into your body in smaller portions, your digestive organs will be better able to cope.

Ask yourself. Would you immediately go from a 10 day juice cleanse straight to the fried chicken counter? The correct answer of course is, oh, no I wouldn’t. Of course not! Even if you did, I bet you might feel quite sick afterwards.

Counting Calories

The reality is, in one way or another, either literally, or through an educated guess regarding portion size; calorie counting is going to be part of your healthy eating and weight maintenance program going forward. During Phase Three there is the opportunity to create food choice and preparation habits that will last far beyond the HCG Diet Protocol.

Caloric additions over the Phase Three period last approximately three weeks. The guide below could be a useful tool when attempting to work out the appropriate number of calories to consume during each week of the phase.

  1. Week 1: 900-1000 Calories per day
  2. Week 2: 1100-1200 Calories per day
  3. Week 3: 1300-1450 Calories per day.

These numbers serve for guide purposes only. A person experiencing above normal physical activity or stress as part of their job or family situation may find they need to adjust accordingly.
As always, if you have concerns or questions, speak to your family doctor.

Food Choices

Other than the obvious sensible eating, it is not the intent of this post to venture into the specific: Do’s and Don’t’s of eating this or that. The simple fact of the matter is, there are as many food choices and suggestions out there, as there are food sensitivities or preferences and opinions standing behind them!

I could encourage healthy fats through the consumption of peanuts, only to be told you are allergic to peanuts. The same with the excellent protein to be found in shrimp. Only to learn you’re deathly allergic to shrimp. Steak then? You’re vegetarian. See? I’m scratching my head!

Rather, independent research should be encouraged, and I suggest as much here. Check your HCG Diet Protocol provider for recipe ideas and downloads. The bottom line is, eat the food that is as close to nature as possible within the caloric range, and that you are able to physically tolerate. As mentioned earlier; you may find during Phase Three that you are not able to tolerate some of the foods you ate before. Or you may find that a particular food was the food, guilty of making you bloat.

The obvious caution where fats are concerned is to eat healthy fats. Fat found in a brazil nut is a far cry from the fats found in a bag of potato chips or oven fries. Sugars? Keep those to a minimum too. Your calories need to be healthy calories. The carbs and sugar in a bagel are better than those in a chocolate donut. But a banana beats both of those.

Be mindful of where your calories are coming from and adjust.

Your body is going to respond differently than the next body. Some combinations of carbs and fats may wreak havoc on one, and not another. Leading me back home to my original point.

Keep at it. Like every goal worth pursuing, it takes time, patience and the development of knowledge along the way. But you have made it this far. Congratulations. Be proud and celebrate the new version of you.

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Boost Your HCG Results by Following these Two Phases First

HCG 101

So. you’re onboard, super excited and ready to get going with your HCG Diet! Congratulations! We know you’re going to look amazing. You might even have your HCG Supplies — syringes, vials, and bacteriostatic water on the way! Rest assured our on line ordering and delivery is secure, quick and confidential.

Right now though, while you’re anxious to get going, you might have a question or two. That’s understandable.

How HCG Works

The HCG hormone forms the back bone to a successful HCG Diet plan. The use of the hormone HCG, via injection forms part of the four phase diet or lifestyle- change plan, also known as Dr. Simeons’ Protocol. The hormone, which reduces hunger cravings and encourages the burning & redistribution of fat (not muscle) during the most intense Phase 2 of the diet, should be taken according to Dr. Simeons’ instructions. The retention of muscle during the weight loss phase plays an instrumental role in preventing weight from ‘coming back’ once you’ve successfully lost the desired weight, and entered into the Phase 4, or Maintenance mode.

Diet Phases

Subdivided into four parts; the HCG Diet plan gives you the opportunity to phase in the diet, something not all diet programs offer. After the Phase 1, front loading phase, you’ll enter Phase 2; this is where the real results start. Careful caloric restriction paves the way for significant weight loss. The remaining phases; phase 3 and phase 4, the final, lifestyle phase, we’ll talk about next time!

Eat as Much as You Want!

Welcome to Phase 1, also known as Loading Days. Eat everything you want! Eat as much as you want! Eat all the things you are likely to miss. This can include cookies, ice cream, candy and other goodies. French fries? Go for it! This phase will last about three days. Stock up on the inside!

Is This a Good Time?

Ideally, you should take your HCG hormone per instructions at the same time each day. Taking your HCG hormone on your weekend schedule after a half-day lie-in, for example, is not going to reflect a daily work schedule that puts you on the road at 6.00am. The important thing is to make it work for you.
As with all successful endeavors, some forward planning and consistency is key.

Five Hundred and Counting!- Phase 2

Beginning on day three is where you start restricting your caloric intake for the appropriate amount of time according to the weight you wish to lose. A person needing to lose 50lbs or more is likely going to want to take the maximum amount of time on each phase. Hopefully, you will have referred to your list of allowable foods during this phase and not winging it on the last minute, on your way out the door to work.

Keep preparation at the front of your mind. It is worth repeating, preparation really is the key to your success!

Aside from drinking lots of water, begin your day with coffee as normal. Milk in your coffee is allowed, however, no more than one teaspoon of milk per day. Sugar is not allowed, however Stevia is. One packet or one serving per cup. Remember, you are watching your caloric intake. Reserve your calories for nutrient rich foods at meal time.

The Lunch Bunch

Schedule your lunch time! Missing meals will likely lead to binge eating tons of carbs and refined sugars somewhere around 2.00pm. Remember, you are eating for energy. Nutritious foods are a must.

Healthy Options

Be honest. If healthy options are not easy to obtain during working hours, prepare your lunch beforehand. You are permitted to eat 100 grams of protein per day. This can come from chicken, fish, veal, crabmeat, and beef. Choose the lowest fat content possible. Salmon, being high in fat, can easily be replaced with wild-caught Tilapia which is lower in fat and provides an excellent source of protein.

Grab your Broccoli

Remember your veggies at lunch time. You are permitted to have one vegetable at lunch time. This can be broccoli, spinach, cucumber, cabbage, or lettuce. Refer to your list of HCG food list for each of the four phases.

Daily Bread

Great news! You can have a carb! A bread stick or a slice of melba toast. No garlic salt or other flavorings. No stuck on sesame seeds! Those are extra calories. Remember; ask yourself. Are these calories worth it, as they relate to nutrient rich calories your body needs?

Fruiti-Tuti

Last on the lunch time menu is a piece of fruit. This must be a plain piece of fruit. Not something served on top of a cheesecake or under cream. That was Phase One, remember? By now, it might feel like a distant dream. But hang in there; you’re doing great! A good fruit choice is a crisp apple, a fresh half grapefruit, or a handful of ripe strawberries.

You Did It!!

Wow! You made it through lunch time and did great! Hang in there. There’s a healthier and more active version of you, who can’t wait to congratulate you, and thank you for all your efforts during this phase.

Grab Dinner!

Yep. But not really. The same as lunch, planning ahead is paramount. This is not a time to cheat by grabbing some fried chicken on the way home because the kids have practice and traffic’s already backed up. Either have someone else pick up the kids if possible; or have your dinner already prepared at home. Grab n’ go if you must. But dinner is it.

Dinner will consist of the same, or similar to your lunch. This is where you can eat the other half of your protein, another vegetable from your food list, and the apple for desert, because you had strawberries at lunch time.

Treat

By this time, you might consider a cup of black coffee, a treat. Go ahead, drink it. But keep it black and sugar free!

Keep at It!

Keep going. You’re committed and doing really great. View our support online, be inspired by the success stories of other HCG Dieters who started their journey much like you; wanting a change for the better.

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Get Motivated. Stay Motivated. You’re Not Alone.

When you feel like quitting, remember why you started.

NEW YOU.

Remember the New Year? Yes, that thing a few weeks ago when the ball dropped, and New York, along with the rest of America, sang and cheered for 2019. Somewhere in a room full of celebration and left-over Christmas good cheer, you made the decision to get fit. Maybe you stuffed your face with one last handful of chocolate covered pretzels before embarking on your 500 calorie diet. Perhaps that morning as you lay on the bed, shoving fifty pounds worth of excess belly into a pair of skinny jeans, you decided enough was enough. That this was going to be your year, no matter what. You decided that you were going to lose weight.

And Then What Happened?

And then comes that first wet Wednesday morning. It is February after all. Cold, depths of winter. Dark nights, equally dark mornings. You might even be shoveling snow on the driveway. Trying to decide if the car outside your door is actually rehearsing for a Japanese ice sculpture exhibition; or if indeed, it is still just a car.

Hardly the run up to the HCG Diet of the Year award, if there was one. Nope, you’re more likely to reach for a plate of steak, potatoes, and corn bread, followed by a long winter’s nap. Who wants to mix a ‘refreshing’ smoothie? You might as well ask for cold soup!

The Numbers

Statistically, more people renew life style or personal fitness commitments in January than at any other time of year. Two weeks in however, almost fifty percent of New Year Resolutions are shoved into the back of the closet along with the tennis shoes. Why? Possibly, because it is winter, and as descendants of ancient man, we should be conserving energy and stuffing our faces with fists full of carbs, not counting how many calories in a stem of broccoli, and running ten miles before driving to work.

The Upside

Okay, so here is the other side of the coin. Remember that nearly fifty percent chuck it all in for some late night TV and a bag of chips and ranch dip? Well, what about the other fifty percent? The ones that do go on to successfully complete their goals? The ones who others will look at six months from now and ask; how did you do it?

Getting on Track

What is your reason, The big WHY when you took the plunge, ordering your HCG Supplies? Often times the only difference between someone who follows through with their goals and someone who doesn’t is the purpose behind it. Perhaps you witnessed health issues in friends and family members; issues related to lifestyle and food choices that have built up over many years. In that case, you might feel as though you are staring at a future you want no part of. And so, eating 500 calories a day and following an HCG Diet plan seem like a small trade off in the long run. Alternatively, you just might want to look better in your clothes! Maybe you participated in the recent 10 year Social Media Challenge. The one where you posted a picture of yourself ten years ago, compared with how you look today. You might have thought, what happened? Whatever your motivation, reinforce it with your WHY.

Your Body Responding to Change.

As good as positive change is for our bodies, be prepared to drag it kicking and screaming all the way to a healthier you. If you are following the 500 calorie a day diet, reducing your sugar or carb intake, or perhaps brand new to exercise, your body is probably going to protest! Be prepared to feel more tired than usual, possibly more irritated. While these things don’t exactly feel great, you are literally eliminating toxic sugars, additives, and other non-nutritious elements from your body. Preparation and knowledge is your insurance against the temptation to quit. When the going gets tough; rest assured you are heading toward your goal. Now for the fun, statutory Legal Disclaimer: It goes without saying you should speak to your doctor beforehand regarding any medical issues needing to be addressed prior to your lifestyle change.

Your Support Network

Seek the support of others aiming for the same or similar goals as you. Social media is a great tool for this. Check out Meet Up groups in your area. The right support can be critical to long term success, especially those following a 500 calorie restricted diet or the HCG Diet.

Families

We love our families and close friends, but they are not always the best source of support. Perhaps they have witnessed you taking a similar journey several times before, only to wipe out by February. Other family members, not understanding how a restricted calorie diet works may be critical of your weight loss goals. Still others, content with the lifestyle and food choices you are attempting to move away from may try reeling you back in with tempting treats and beverages.

Exercise During an HCG Diet Plan

Exercise is great. It releases endorphins, can make your skin glow and just generally make you feel great! All those are good things. However, those who have either never committed to a long term exercise program or who engage in 500 calorie per day diet plans such as the HCG Diet should carefully plan their work outs in advance.

Slow and Steady

For exercise newbies, it is important to give those muscles a gentle awakening through exercise programs like yoga and pilates. Remember earlier we discussed how much our bodies love to rebel when we try to do something beneficial in the long term? Well, exercise is one of those triggers. If in doubt, speak to a fitness professional who can help chart an appropriate work out plan designed to gradually and safely increase physical challenges as your fitness levels improve.

Exercising on 500 Calories

Even those used to exercising at a relatively high intensity and fitness level should begin slowly. An essential part of the HCG Diet plan is the calorie restriction. Intense exercise requires increased fuel to the muscles; in other words, more food! Once again, if unsure take advice from a fitness professional. As a general guide, you don’t have to skip the gym with your friends after work. Maybe now is the time to take that yoga or stretch class. Give your muscles a chance to recover from previous bouts of intense activity, in addition to adjusting to new food intakes currently imposed upon it.

A New Activity, a New Mindset

Any lifestyle change can be tough at first. Take the pressure off by learning a new activity! If you are looking forward to trying that new Tai Chi class in town, or that adult ballet class you have been curious about, now might be the time to try. Science has demonstrated that new activities create new neurological pathways as we study, learn and engage. The simple act of concentrating on a brand new activity may make us less likely to dwell on food or restricted calorie intake.

Get Your Rest

Tired? Get some rest! There are no medals for wearing yourself out. An effective workout plan includes recovery time. Avoid over fatigue and injuries by taking days off. Maybe you plan alternate days of walking the neighborhood for an hour with a pilates class.

Reward yourself

Now that you are beginning to see and feel the physical benefits of your HCG Diet and 500 calorie per day restriction, reward yourself! Nope. Sorry, not the cake! Perhaps a nice new set of cute underwear! Maybe a new, wow outfit for work, guaranteed to make people notice just how much weight you have lost. Maybe that new facial or skincare routine you have been wanting to try. After all, you are making a holistic investment in yourself! Whatever it is, do it! You have earned it!

Journal

Track your progress with a journal; either private or public blog posting with videos. It is up to you to decide. This is your journey. You get to choose how much you are comfortable sharing. Chances are, you may not see the incremental changes occurring at first. Over time, however, you will. Take hip, waist, chest measurements and so on, before you start your journey, then again at six week intervals. Compare the numbers. If you have stuck to your goals in the best way possible for you and your starting point, you will be amazed at the changes taking place. That can literally be the difference between continuing or reaching for a plate of white pasta.

Make it Fun

Remember, make it fun. This is your journey and no one else’s. Make a list of all that motivates you…and just go for it.

See you on the beach!

Visit HCGSupplies.com to begin.

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Still Unsure of How to Undertake the HCG Diet?

If you haven’t heard of the HCG protocol, then you ought to know that this is the ideal diet that will save you the stress of starving yourself to death for the sake of eliminating the extra fats that have been consistently killing your dieting efforts.

Do not despair. With the HCG diet, expect to engage in fewer workouts, and minimal or no muscle engaging fitness programs at all. This is because this diet will allow you to adopt the best eating techniques that will help you build the new body you that you’ve been longing for. HCG can help redistribute the fat to the proper places on your body; sculpting an entire new body in place of the old you.

Get this right; having such good eating habits will not only keep you healthy, but will also aid in maintaining the new body weight that you’ve acquired with the HCG Diet plan. Yes, we agree, there are tons of recommended diets online that could probably work for you, but who doesn’t love to associate himself/herself with the best available?

Beware that the HCG Diet is always divided into two parts: the HCG product and the very low-calorie eating. Be selective when choosing the type of food to include in your diet, and as you do this, ensure that do not go past the set amount of 500 calories in a day.

You should go ahead and weigh the quantity of your food on a food scale to ascertain that it is the right amount that you are about to consume. Be precise.

Before commencing to consume the low-calorie foods, certify that you have your HCG product. It’s one of the vital essentials in this diet, and its purpose is to boost your energy level by accessing your body’s fat stores, so that you can maintain your normal activities while undergoing the weight loss process.

Also, if you have cancer, diabetes, gallbladder disease, or blood clots in your family, the HCG Diet may not be right for you. Stop using the medication immediately and check with your doctor Pregnant or breastfeeding mothers are also exempted.

This means that everyone who is planning to use the HCG Diet should first go through a thorough, in-depth medical evaluation to determine whether they are fit for use of HCG.

HCG Diet Details

During your day one and two of using the HCG Diet, eat foods that have high fats contents. Eat between 3000 to 4000 calories of dairy products, nuts and fried foods in a day. Do not restrict yourself. Eating fatty foods is a vital procedure that will help you to control your cravings after you’ve started the next chapter of doing away with such kinds of food. This is called the loading phase of the HCG Diet.

The next few weeks are bound to be hectic. You’ve got this! On the third day, you have to restrict your diet and eat a maximum of 500 calories per day. This could be tough, right? You will also have to maintain this eating pattern up to the 26th day while you are also taking the daily dosage of the HCG hormone.

Your cravings could intensify, but you can suppress them and keep yourself fit by drinking more than 64 ounces of water per day. The HCG helps to deal with cravings and hunger.

Scheduled Meals on the HCG Diet

You are to eat lunch and dinner and two other separate snacks each day during the HCG Diet. The recommended snacks should either be a melba toast (Alternative for a piece of bread) or one yummy fruit (choose one among a handful of strawberries, one medium-sized apple or orange, or a half grapefruit).

It is preferable if you divide your snacks between the two meals. Have the melba toast for lunch and consume the remaining selected fruit during or after dinner.

In the HCG Diet plan, it is also helpful to take vitamins to boost your system. Take a Vitamin D and Potassium supplement. The Potassium supplement should have a minimum of 99mg in it while the Vitamin D supplement should possess 1000 units. Ingest the Potassium supplement three times and the Vitamin D once in a day.

The HCG Lunch and Dinner

The proportion of the meat, vegetables, melba toast, and the fruit in your HCG Diet should be balanced. The chosen meat should be approximately 3.5 ounces with no added fats or bones. Include either skinless chicken breast, cold water fish, lobster, buffalo, or crab in the diet.

The meat should also not be fried with oil or butter, just grill or broil it. Add a little pepper, vinegar or salt to spice it up. Pickled fish, salmon, canned tuna, and deli meats aren’t fit for this diet. Avoid them as much as possible!

The rule still stands; no oil or butter should be added when preparing your vegetables and do not eat just one type of vegetable for all your meals. You can eat three cups of raw spinach, green salads, or beet greens. Red radishes (a cupful), onions (half a cup) and tomatoes (one medium size) are also ideal.

The HCG Phases

Dr. Simeons, the founder of the HCG Diet, divided the diet patterns into the three phases below.

  • Phase 1- This is the cleansing phase that can speed up your weight loss. It is a bit expensive and consumes a lot of time. (This phase was actually added by Kevin Trudeau in his book about the HCG Diet called “The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want you to Know About”.)
  • Phase 2- This phase is divided into three parts: the loading, the core diet, and the taper-off phase. This phase is meant to create awareness so that those on the diet can know its purpose. In the loading phase, you’ll have more intake of fats to replenish your fat reserves. In the core phase, you’ll continue the 500-calorie diet with the HCG hormone injections, and this should last up to 40 days. In the taper phase, you won’t take any of the HCG, but you will continue with the 500 calorie diet for three more days.
  • Phase 3- This is where the maintenance diet comes in. You will go back to eating a low carb diet and do away with the HCG Diet and the HCG Hormone. Eat as much as you want while maintaining your new weight within 2 pounds of your weight of the day of your last injection. You can proceed to start over again after 6 weeks off of HCG. If you need to lose more weight, this is called doing another round of HCG.

Conclusion

The HCG Diet plan is simple, but if you miss out on the little details then you will probably struggle on the plan. You won’t achieve the optimum results that you badly want. Abide by the scheduled meals to stay healthy and active. It can be done, just do your part by sticking to the plan closely to succeed.

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HCG Hormones and Your Weight Loss Regimen

Referred to as HCG, Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin is a hormone. The basic function of this hormone is to nourish a fetus during the early stages of pregnancy. Our body produces HCG naturally from a component of the fertilized egg. However, synthetic HCG powder is made by extracting it from the pituitary glands of a pregnant woman. A wide range of HCG products are created by using this powder.

Dr. ATW Simeons, a British endocrinologist, first identified the connection between HCG and weight loss. He suggested that this hormone renders unbelievable results when it comes to losing an enormous amount of weight. Initially, only the injection form of HCG hormone was available in his protocol. However, at present numerous other forms like pills and drops have been formulated in an attempt to add more convenience to the consumer.

Comparing the Effectiveness of HCG Injections with Drops and Pellets

While differentiating between the efficacy of injections, pellets, and drops, it is essential to know the procedure and steps associated with each of these methods. As far as HCG injection is concerned, it is usually injected into the abdominal area. Nevertheless, upper arm, buttocks, or thigh are some of the other places where you can inject the dose. Any minimal side effects felt eventually minimize after a few hours.

Using drops and pellets appears to be a relatively simple process. However, it is not as effective as the injections. Since you need to place them beneath your tongue, chances are there that you may not absorb the complete dosage. This may happen when you drink something within a few minutes of taking HCG pellets or drop or even if you do not hold them under your tongue for a long enough period of time. This is considered as the major drawback of HCG drops and pellets. In fact, the dose takes some time to completely dissolve and enter into the bloodstream. Hence, it is advised to stick with injections for the most effective HCG protocol possible.

As a whole, each of the above-mentioned methods of administering HCG can seem to have their plus points. Some people are comfortable with the drops and pellets. Others who are determined to lose their weight quickly prefer the tried and true method of injections.

VITAMIN B12: An Essential Component of HCG Diet

The Vitamin B12 supplement plays a pivotal role to enhance the efficiency of the HCG diet. This is the reason Vitamin B12 is sometimes sold along with HCG kit. During weight loss protocol, it is consumed in a liquid form. Although there are numerous health benefits associated with this vitamin, its positive impacts as a part of the HCG diet are simply amazing. Vitamin B12 enhances the absorption of HCG and provides desired results within less anticipated time. Apart from this, Sublingual Vitamin B12 is observed to provide an extra boost, which some people require to sustain perfect physical and mental health, while following the strict HCG diet protocol.

Things to Consider while Purchasing the HCG Hormone

Since different companies manufacture HCG hormone, there are various brand names available in the market. Some of the leading brands include Corion, Ovidac, and HuCoG. We have found most of the brands to be essentially equal in effectiveness on the HCG Diet Protocol. Hence, you should try and experiment, as to what brand works best for your body. Besides this, the most essential aspect while purchasing the HCG supplies is to look for a trusted provider.

Buying HCG is not a big deal, as there are various options including pharmacies (require a script from your doctor) and online providers. Make sure to do your research prior to choosing a product. By doing so, you can find the best product suited to you both in terms of price and quality.

Following are the aspects that you should keep in mind before purchasing HCG hormone.

Quality and Quantity: Both the quality and quantity of HCG hormone should be your concern. Look for superior quality pharmaceutical powder composed of HCG in pure form.

Dosage Information: The product must offer clear information, as for how to administer the dose. This will ensure that you get the best possible outcome after taking the required amount of this hormone.

Avoid HCG-free Drops: If you are thinking about choosing the homeopathic version, make sure that the product contains actual HCG hormone, as in most of the cases, these drops are HCG-free. They even brag about the fact that they contain no HCG hormone like that is actually a good thing. This really means that you wouldn’t get the desired results with this type of product.

Specific Diet Information: In fact, if you don’t follow a particular diet plan while taking HCG, it would not yield any positive results for your weight loss regimen. So, choose only such a protocol, which provides specific diet information. The company must share all the details regarding what foods you can eat and what precautions to take. Something like the original HCG Protocol by Dr. ATW Simeons is a long-time proven method.

Homeopathic Vs Pharmaceutical HCG Hormones

Pharmaceutical HCG comes in a powdered form. The solution is prepared by mixing the HCG powder with bacteriostatic water. The solution is then injected under the skin or intramuscularly as per the prescribed dosage in the protocol. For optimum results, you should know the recommended method of mixing the HCG powder and creating a solution that is right for you.

Homeopathic HCG is available in the forms of drops, pellets, and patches. It has been observed that homeopathic drops contain no HCG hormone. The only thing present in these drops is the memory of such a hormone. Although this type of medication works to some extent, scientists are still unable to explain the reasons for any such effectiveness.

Apparently, the method of injecting HCG appears to be difficult at first, but you will get used to it. In fact, HCG injections are the most effective method to administer HCG for the weight loss protocol. This is so, as you intake a measured amount of this hormone with each daily dose.

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Has Your Weight Loss Journey Become Stagnant?

Working out for weight loss

The weight loss journey is a thrilling one that has its share of ups and downs. At the beginning it seems like the pounds just melt off and it is thrilling to step on the scale, do your measurements, and put on old clothes that haven’t fit for years. Friends and family start commenting on how fantastic you look and they are full of positive reinforcement. During the middle part of your journey the differences start to slow down and the rewards start to stagnate but you still see positive changes. The end of the weight loss journey is by far the most difficult. You may feel like you are stuck in a holding pattern. The final ten pounds are going nowhere and you are beginning to wonder if you will ever have the body that you dreamed of.

You begin to wonder if it was all worth it and begin to fantasize about eating the foods that you have avoided during your journey. Don’t do it! You have invested so much effort into this and it is so easy to slide back into old habits. Try to find new things to occupy your time instead of just worrying about the fact that you are not losing any weight.

Focus on positive things in your life. Your health is better now that you have made a real dent in your weight. You have come so far and sabotaging it now is the last thing that you should do. Instead try to figure out what made you gain all of the weight in the first place. Do you have an eating problem? There are weight loss support groups that you can join that will help you change your relationship with food. Maybe you were simply eating out of boredom. Find new activities on which to focus your energy.

Try finding a new form of exercise. If you were walking before, now might be a good time to give running a try. There are always 5km and 10km runs going on in the community for which you can sign up. If you are feeling ambitious, you could start training for a half marathon. If you are looking for an individual sport there are many different options like karate, judo, mixed martial arts, swimming, weightlifting, or cycling. If team sports are more your thing you could try soccer, basketball, baseball, or volleyball. The key is to focus your energy on something fun instead of just weighing yourself and being frustrated by the lack of change.

You will get there! You will lose that last ten pounds, and you will have the body that you have always dreamed of. Keep focusing your energy on the positive aspects of your weight loss journey. The Dr. Simeons HCG Diet works and you have already seen such a positive transformation. Keep following the diet, step up your exercise game, find new areas of interest to focus on and you will be at your goal weight before you know it!

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What Can I Eat on the HCG Diet?

Salad for weight loss

What can I eat on the HCG Diet?

Eating only 500 calories a day might seem difficult to maintain. And having limitations on what you can eat to make up those 500 calories can seem nearly impossible. Planning and being clear on what you can have is key. Consider having just coffee or tea for breakfast and concentrate on getting much of your nourishment during lunch and dinner. You can also prep some of the meals at the beginning of the week if you don’t think you’ll have time to cook and plan during the week.

Below is the list of foods that you can have on the HCG low-calorie diet without ever worrying about feeling hungry.

Fruits you can have

  • Oranges
  • Apples
  • Lemons
  • Strawberries

Proteins you can have

  • Veal
  • White Fish
  • Lobster
  • Crab
  • Shrimp
  • Extra Lean Beef
  • Buffalo
  • 3 Egg Whites
  • Scallops
  • Chicken

Vegetables you can have

  • Celery
  • Spinach
  • Fennel
  • Chard
  • Onions
  • Beet Greens
  • Cucumbers
  • Green Salad
  • Cabbage
  • Mixed Greens
  • Red Radishes
  • Shallots
  • Asparagus
  • Tomatoes

Beverages & Extras

  • Tea, Coffee, Water
  • Stevia
  • Spices & Dried Herbs
  • Grissini or Melba Toast