Understanding the HCG Drops Diet Plan

Anyone who has tried multiple diet plans know the top reason for diet failure: hunger. The HCG diet plan deals with this problem by including a daily dose of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, or HCG.

When Dr. A.T.W. Simeons realized in the 1950s that HCG could be administered safely for weight loss, he also discovered that it worked equally well for men and women. The HCG Drops Diet Plan combines a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, and lean meats or vegetable proteins with a daily dose of HCG drops under the tongue.

The homeopathic drops purportedly allow the body to burn abnormal fat without attacking structural fat or muscles. This keeps the body at an optimum level of energy during weight loss.

HCG Diet Phases
The plan begins with a 2-day ‘loading’ phase, followed by a 13-43 day ‘core’ phase, a 3-day ‘transition’ phase, and a 21-day maintenance phase. If you follow the instructions carefully during each phase, you will see noticeable results.

Loading Phase
Start using HCG drops on days 1 and 2 while loading up on high-fat foods (nuts, oils, natural fats). Avoid sugary foods. Make sure you eat until you’re full.

Core Phase
On day 3, begin your regular regimen of a 500-calorie daily diet, combined with a regular HCG drop dosage. This phase may last from 13-43 days, depending on the amount of weight loss you desire.

Transition Phase
To signal an end to the core phase, stop taking the HCG drops, but continue to follow the 500-calorie daily plan for 3 days. This allows your body to regulate its HCG levels.

Maintenance Phase
For the next 21 days, start to take in more calories and food types, being careful to avoid refined sugars, artificial sweeteners, and starchy foods. Monitor your weight gain so you are better able to maintain your overall goal.

Desirable Food Choices
For the HCG diet phases to work well, choose only approved foods and amounts:

1. Twice Daily

1 fruit serving (orange, apple, half a grapefruit, 6-9 medium strawberries)
1 vegetable serving (beet greens, chard, chicory, spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, celery, onions, fennel, tomatoes, red radishes, cabbage, asparagus)
100-gram meat serving (turkey, chicken breast, beef, veal; white fish, such as halibut, flounder, sole, or wild Chilean sea bass; lobster, crab, or 3 oz. of cooked shrimp). Remove visible fat before cooking. For vegetarians, substitute 3 egg whites or 1 egg plus yolk for m eat proteins.
2. Approved Liquids

0.5 to 1 gallon of water each day
Tea (any type) or coffee without sugar (Stevia is allowed)
3. Approved Snacks

Allowable snacks include either two Melba toasts or Grissino breadsticks per day. You may eat these grains either with or in between meals. You may also use your allowed fruit as a snack instead of having it with your meal.

4. Approved Seasonings

Use lemon juice at any point during the day (it alkalizes the body). You may also include in your daily diet the following seasonings a nd herbs:

Sea salt
Pepper
Mustard
Vinegar
Sweet basil
Parsley
Chives
Thyme
Cilantro
Garlic
Use salsa or pico de gallo in moderation. Avoid dressings, butter, and sugar (also watch for added sugar in your spices).

Final Reminders

Don’t take OTC drugs while on this diet. Aspirin is allowed. Remember to eat meals and snacks as prescribed (never skip meals or leave out recommended food groups). If you crave a sweeter taste, use Stevia as an alternate to sugar.

Avoid heavy exercise during the diet; however, walking, Pilates, yoga, and light resistance exercises are appropriate and help you maintain strength. Weigh yourself regularly to keep track of your success.

There is hope. With HCG Drops Diet Plan, significant weight loss is possible.

HCG Diet Recipes

HCG Kit
In order to utilize the HCG kit as a weight loss aid, it is important to maintain the proper diet as to maximize the weight loss process. HCG kits are especially helpful when it comes to maintaining your diet.HCG recipes are carefully constructed and moderated so that they provide the necessary intake of foods in order to consume the appropriate number of calories each meal. HCG diet meal plans allow you to adjust your metabolism and help shed those pounds.

HCG Diet Meal Plans – HCG Kit

The HCG diet foods are based on a plan that involves three important stages in order to realize weight loss:
1. The first phase of the plan, in conjunction with your HCG kit, involves consuming meals with food that is high in fat and calories. This HCG diet menu will put the body in a position to maximize the changes in metabolism that the plan will be putting the body through. This phase only lasts for two days.

2. Depending on the HCG kit you select, the second phase goes from day 3 to day 21, or from day 3 to day 42. During this time the meals are carefully moderated. There are a number of HCG recipes that outline a variety of proper diet foods. In addition to these recipes, there are also HCG kits and guides offering support and charting information. These meal kits hold all the essential ingredients necessary to maintain strict adherence to the appropriate HCG diet foods.

3. The third and final phase of HCG diet meal plans is all about maintenance. This is the phase where the HCG supplement is no longer being taken, but food is still being carefully moderated. The body adjusts to how it will handle fat as the metabolism stabilizes. During this time special recipes and food kits can be used, but as time goes on these meals are adjusted to provide for higher calorie intake. It can be hard to adjust to the changes in HCG diet foods, but strict maintenance and constant vigilance is necessary to ensure that the lost weight doesn’t come back.

HCG Diet Foods for All Tastes
The most important part of any diet is to carefully follow the meal instructions outlined in the diet plan. With hard work and diligence, the HCG kit and meal plan ensures that you will be proud of your new weight loss results.

A complete HCG Diet Recipe e-Book is included with every purchase.

Staying Motivated While On the HCG Diet

Staying motivated the first week or two of the HCG diet can be challenging, but you can do it! The HCG diet is quite different from what most people are used to eating, so the important thing is to get in the right mindset. Here are a few tips to help set up motivators all around you. Remember the goal of taking HCG drops: to shed pounds and look and feel great!

1. Reward yourself. Treat yourself to something fun like a new shirt or a new DVD for every five or six pounds you lose. It’ll keep you going.

2. Enjoy some down time. Go see a movie, go to the spa, or relax with a good book. Allow yourself to relax to help with the transition of starting a new diet.

3. Go for a walk. This will help relieve anxiety, create a good distraction, and reinforce your new, healthier lifestyle.

4. Count down. HCG dieters with drops can only stay on the diet for a maximum of 60 days. If you want to lose a certain number of pounds, set a goal by when to do it. Create a “count down” till when you will hit the goal day.

5. Take a “before” picture. Take a picture before you start the diet and keep it in a place you will see it often. The photo will serve as a reminder of why wanted you started the diet. Look at it often.

6. Read motivating quotes. You could even print some out and pin them up in different spots around the house and even at work. Pinterest is a great source for finding inspiring quotes.

7. Keep a journal. Before you start your HCG weight loss journey—or even in the midst of it—write down why you want to lose weight. It may because you’re attending an upcoming wedding and you want to look great, or because swimsuit season is coming up, or because you want to be more active with your children or grandchildren. Whatever the reason, write it down! When you are tempted to quit the HCG diet, go back and read your reasons for starting and be re-inspired. Even better, track your diet journey with daily, short entries in your journal.
Top Four Causes of Failure With the HCG Diet
success tips#4 – Cheating on the diet! What if your daily calorie intake was 700 instead of 500? Even though it seems to be a small deviation, this causes your body to start pulling your energy from your calories instead of your fat deposits. The purpose of the HCG diet is to cause the body to pull your energy from stored fat. If you are even slightly above the 500 calorie daily intake, then it will change where the body pull its energy from.

#3- Wrong types of proteins and calories. When on the HCG diet, we often see the word protein and immediately think steak, beef, pork, or other meats that are high in fat content. Even though it is okay to have these meats in small amounts, it should not be looked at as a main course because of the volume of fat content. When thinking of foods to add proteins to our meals, fish, chicken, and lean types of beef are a much better and healthier option along with making it easier for our bodies to burn stored fat.

#2- Constipation. One of the common side effects of the HCG diet program is constipation. When we don’t lose weight for several days and we aren’t using the bathroom as often, this could be to blame. It is recommended while on the HCG diet that natural colon cleansing methods are used regularly to allow the body to pass our stools.

#1 – Lack of consistency. Whether it be with remembering to take the HCG diet drops or with your overall daily calorie intake, this is probably the most common reason people fail to lose weight while on the HCG diet. When the menu calls for 1 serving of vegetables, 1 serving of fruit, and a protein we sometimes substitute other foods for the foods we don’t want. Or, we succumb to our temptations and substitute another fruit instead of the vegetable. The body demands a specific balance and any deficiency will force the body to pull its energy from other sources. For example, some fruits have a large amount of natural sugar. If we double the amount of natural sugar, then the body will begin to pull our energy from that source. Our body will burn through it very quickly and then we will start to get very hungry and our body will crave more calories. Our body while on the HCG diet is in a state of deficiency, if the balance is knocked off even just a little bit for one day, it can throw off the results by a large amount for days to come.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s Do take a good multi-vitamin/mineral with potassium (or take separately). Make sure all vitamins are NOT fat soluble. No fish oils, vit E or A. We recommend you buy high quality products such as those carried by health food stores. They will help with energy and regularity. Drink lots of water Do light exercise.

Don’ts Do not use lotion, oils or lubricants. This includes oil based cosmetics. – Fats, oils, creams, lotions and ointments applied to the skin are absorbed and interfere with weight reduction by hCG just as if they had been eaten. The body will stop burning fat and digest these oils instead. Stay away from these while on this program. Mineral oil (baby oil) may be used if needed. Lipsticks and powders are fine. Oil free foundation or mineral powder is a good substitute. Alba oil free lotion from your local health food store is a great alternative. Not abiding by this can stall weight loss for 1-3 days. Don’t add any foods of any kind that are not on the food list. No Sugar! Read all your labels on seasonings and food. No sugar or starch. No gums or mints No diet drinks (diet sodas, diet/sugar-free powdered drinks) No butter, oil or dressing

Plateau Breakers (if weight loss slows) 1. Increase water intake 2. Try adding a glass or 2 of green tea to your day 3. Don’t eat 2 apples for the 2 fruits or cut down apple size 4. Cut beef down or out 5. Check all condiments for any form of sugar. 6. If mixing vegetables, stop. 7. If having trouble with constipation, try magnesium, Epson salt, or Smooth Move tea- most people find this very effective. Found in specialty section of grocery store or local health food store. It is not unusual to have a bowel only once every 3 -4 days while on this diet and that, provided plenty of fluids are taken, this never leads to any disturbance. If constipated or going longer than 4 days use a suppository or tea. 8. Leave out one or both breadsticks/melba toast 9. Stop eating out. 10. No diet drinks or cheats.

Reap the Benefits of HCG

The amazing benefits of the HCG Diet include more than just losing a few pounds. Many dieters have found health benefits such as:

Overall metabolism improvement

Improvement of health issues related to blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, and joint pain

Fat loss specifically from problem areas, which creates a more pleasing body shape

Healthy eating habits

Reduced cravings for sugary and fatty foods

Significant improvement in self-confidence and general outlook on life

Increases in energy and vitality

Weight loss doesn’t need to be harder than it already is. You can boost your current weight loss plans with HCG to burn more fat. E mail us at customerservice@intermountainhcg.com for answers to your specific questions.