Getting started on the HCG diet

Since my success with the HCG diet I have had a lot of people ask me about the diet and how it works so I thought I would do a post about it.


This is a brief rundown of how the HCG Protocol works...

Days 1 & 2: Gorge.  Eat until you can't eat anymore.  The fatter the food, the better.  Fried meats (chicken wings), hamburgers, pizza, cream filled donuts; pig out.  If you don't feel sick, eat.  This is the most crucial part of this process.  If you don't do this you *will* suffer for the first week or two.  You also begin to take the drops on day one.  They go under your tongue.  Don't eat/drink for 15 minutes before and after you take them, and hold them in your mouth for at least 2 minutes before swallowing.  You do this 3 times a day.  I tended to do it first thing in the morning, then every six hours after that. We started with 8 drops then moved up to 10. I stalled for a few days with weight so I moved up to 15 this was at the end for me, the last week of the 40 days.

Days 3 - 21 (up to 37): Continue the drops each day.  You will now only eat 500 calories a day.  Your lunch and dinner will consist of 3.5 oz. of meat/fish, 1-2 cups of a vegetable, 1 piece of fruit, 1 melba toast.  You can only drink water, black coffee, and tea.  The only sweetener you can use is Stevia.  I recommend the liquid version because it mixes in drinks better.  You can go without the fruit and melba toast if you like or you can have it for breakfast and before bed.  Detailed instructions and lists of acceptable foods are in Dr. Simeon's manuscript (see below).

3 days after you stop the drops: Continue the 500 calorie/day eating.

3 weeks after you stop the 500 calorie/day eating: No sugars and starches.  You can eat as you normally would, not overdoing it (1200-1800 calories/day).  The only restriction is no sugars and starches.  This is basically the Adkins diet.

After the 3 week of no sugar and starches, you are finished.  Eat well and exercise and you should be able to maintain your weight.

You should weigh yourself every morning and keep a record of your weight.  You will know if certain foods prevent you from losing weight.  You should lose at least .5 lbs per day.

There is a *lot* more information in the manuscript which is linked to below.  If you have questions, let me know.

Here are some links with information about the HCG Protocol.

Pounds and Inches Away

This website is for a store here in St. Louis that sells HCG approved foods and spices.  They also have some supporting books and information about HCG. You can order things online and have them shipped to you. If your planning on doing the 40 days I recommed getting the 2oz  bottle of HCG. They also sell the approved haircare and body care products.

http://www.poundsandinchesaway.com/

Dr. Simeon's Manuscript

This paper is your guide to the HCG Protocol.  Read it, understand it, love it.  This paper dictates what you can and can't do. 

HTML Version - http://www.poundsandinchesaway.com/dr-simeons-manuscript-download/

HCG results

I finished the 40 days on the hcg drops. I lost a total of 30 pounds. I lost 5 inches in my chest, 8 inches in my waist, 6 inches in my hips, and 2 inches in my arms and thighs. I'm now starting the no card no sugar phase. This will last 3 weeks. I'll post pics and weight and inches lost once I complete this phase. Here are my before and after pictures. If you have any interest in doing the diet I recommend visiting this website  Pounds and Inches Away it will give you all the information you need. You can also purchase drops from them, I did the 2oz bottle. Here is a link to a post I did about the basics of the diet and how it works if you have any interest in doing the diet I recommend reading this post Getting started on the HCG diet

HCG Week 2

I have now been on the diet for 2 weeks. I'm down 16 pounds. I had a couple days were I gained weight and a day that I stalled. I know that's not uncommon when on the diet but I'm pretty sure mine was a sodium issue. So I have cut that out and seem to be doing fine. I was down 2 inches in my hips and about an inch in the waist.

HCG week 1

Here are my before pictures. These were taken on day one. I will not post pictures again until I've completed the 40 days on the drops.

 

One week into the diet and I am down 11 pounds. I've lost an inch in my hips and almost an inch in my chest. My waist is down almost down 2 inches. So far so good!

HCG Apple Cinnamon

This is what we like to make to help with our sweet cravings. It's super easy. Peel and core one apple then cut it up into small slices. Place in an oven save dish and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake in the over at 350° for 40 minutes.

HCG day 1

Day one was hard for me adjusting to not eating all day. I spread out all my food throughout the day to help with hunger.

Here is what I did:

8:00 hot green tea
9:45 I made an orange smoothie (1 orange peeled and put into a blender with ice and some drops of valenica orange stevia and vanilla cream stevia)
11:45 chili
1:00  coffee

3:00 apple and melba toast
6:00 cabbage, chicken and melba toast

I also drank lots of water throughout the day and tea with my meals. 

Here is my recipe for what I made for dinner:

Mustard Chicken:

I took some spicy brow mustard, some water, and sprinkled in some sweet and hot spice to it and mixed it all together. Then I cut up the 3 oz of chicken and coated it in the sauce. Then I cooked it in a skillet on the stove. In a separate pan I stir fried some cabbage with a little water some Braggs liquid aminos and a little minced onion.

HCG chili

I make a big batch of this to have for the week for my lunch. One package of this ground beef  (1.34 lbs) and 3 cans of the diced tomatoes is for 6 servings.

I brown the meat with minced garlic and minced onion. Then I add the cans of diced tomatoes (I do not drain them). Then I add the chili powder and let simmer for about 30 minutes. You can add other spices such as red pepper to make it spicier. I like to add Tabasco to it before I eat it to give it an extra kick. 

HCG diet results

I know it has been a while since we did the HCG Diet but I wanted to show our results. Here are the photos we took on the first day of the diet, January 1, 2012.

Here are the photos after 40 days of doing the drops.

 The final pictures are after 5 months, we both are down about 40 pounds!

HCG Diet

Dave and I started the HCG diet on January 2nd, through our chiropractors office. You can read about the diet here. This is not an easy diet but it does work, five days in and I have lost 10 lbs. I would love to lose 40 lbs but I'm shooting for 30. Hopefully, we will both continue to see progress and be able to stick to the diet. I'll post before and after pics when we complete the diet.

Here is a link to our results: HCG results