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.