What is the HCG Diet Plan?

Posted by Troy in Diet Plan

Human chronic gonadotropin or the HCG healthy diet plan is an effective way to lose weight. This substance was initially discovered in the year 1927. It was found in the urine of pregnant women. HCG is only present in pregnant women to help in te proper development of the baby’s genitals.

It was during the 1950’s when Dr. A. T. W Simeons discovered that HCG does not only help children with under developed genitals but can also help manage weight problems. He observed that patients using HCG had lost a lot of weight and had reduced eating appetite.  To confirm his observation Dr. Simeons did some more studies and found out that HCG has the ability to stimulate the body to lose unnecessary fats.

After this discovery the people began using HCG as a weight loss solution. Today, HCG daily injections are combined with a HCG-diet plan, also known as the Very Low Calorie Diet, and are highly commercialized as one of the top weight loss programs with very promising results.

The Very Low Calorie Diet

The Very Low Calorie Diet is an essential part of HCG weight loss treatment. HCG users are advised to limit their daily calories intake to 500 calories right after the third shot of HCG. Once the HCG is injected into a dieter the body will begin to burn all accumulated fats inside the body thus providing more than enough calories to help the dieter get through the day, which explains rapid weight loss. The 500 calorie diet is enough to quench the dieter’s daily appetite.

After losing the excess fats the dieter must immediately stop the HCG treatment as well as the 500-calorie diet. Note that it would be useless to continue after losing excess fats as HCG burns only accumulated body fats. Since there are no more excess fats to burn the dieter’s appetite is expected to automatically return to normal which is more than 500 calories daily diet.

The Original HCG Diet Protocol

Dr. Simeons formulated the original HCG diet protocol, which is now the Very Low Calorie Diet. This was included in his “Pounds and Inches” manuscripts. The original protocol contains a recommended diet plan from breakfast to dinner.

During breakfast, tea or coffee is recommended. The amount of sugar was not specified however the amount of milk was limited only to one tablespoonful, which is the maximum amount of consumable milk in 24 hours. Artificial sweeteners such as saccharin or herbs such as stevia may be used. I recommend ybuy your own espresso machine if you can afford to as it will make drinking healthy coffees a lote easier.

For lunch Dr. Simeons suggests 100 grams of beef, veal, fresh white fish, crab, or shrimp, lobster, chicken breast. Fatty parts of the meat that are showing must be removed before cooking.  All the meat must be weighed raw.  To cook the meat dieter may grill or boil them without adding fats.

The dieter may prepare only one kind of vegetable from the following choices: chard, chicory, spinach, green salad, beet-greens, tomatoes, fennel, celery, red radishes, onions, cabbage, asparagus, and cucumbers. Only one Melba toast or bread stick can be prepared. For fruits: one apple or half a grapefruit or a handful of strawberries can be consumed during lunch. Dr. Simeons recommends the lunch menu for dinner as well.

The New HCG Diet Manual

Today, the HCG diet plan was further developed and improved to bring out the best results from this weight loss program. Kevin Trudeau is among the many people who have furthered the studies of HCG based on Dr. Simeons original HCG diet protocol. Trudeau modified the HCG diet protocol to fit to today’s advanced health improvements. HCG manuals now contain an overview of the HCG diet protocol presented using Kevin Trudeau’s HCG Diet Phases. The phases explain when to start and when to stop using the HCG.

HCG Diet Recipes

Many HCG diet recipes are now available online to help HCG diet plan users successfully follow the 500-calorie daily diet, which is an essential part of the entire HCG program.

HCG kits can also be purchased online or offline. This kit is advisable for first time users. Since these kits are usually complete, new users do not need to worry about forgetting or missing out any HCG supply.

Not all weight loss programs are reliable and safe and most of the victims of these unsafe products are usually those who did not take the time to know more about the product before giving it a try. Remember a good product will explain to you what their product is in 1 to 2 pages and they will always make sense but a product that is giving false promises with a 3 to 10 page explanation of their product will never make sense. Take time to know the product you are buying to see if they make sense – to you!

HCG Diet Plan

Day 1-3

• Eat whatever foods you like as often as you like throughout the day. This will accustom your body to a higher concentration of fat calories in the blood and prepare you for the 500 calorie/day HCG Diet.
• Drink plenty of water, tea, or coffee.

Important Points

• Starting at day 1, hold eleven drops of HCG under your tongue for three to five minutes before eating or drinking anything. Eleven drops is just under 0.25 ml if you are using a measured syringe.
• Starting at day 1, check and record your weight every morning at the same time after using the bathroom.
• After day 3, the HCG Diet consists of 500 calories per day. The HCG hormone stimulates your body to release stored fat into the bloodstream so you will have much more than 500 calories available to your system and you should not be hungry.
• After day 3, avoid all high glycemic index foods. These include sugars (white, brown, and any ingredients ending in -ose such as sucrose, fructose, lactose, etc) and starches (flour, bread, pasta, rice, corn, potatoes, etc). These foods stimulate the release of insulin, which allows your body to store excess calories as fat. No alcohol is allowed on this diet because your liver converts alcohol into the same compounds produced by high glycemic index foods. Melba toast is the only bread on this diet.
• You may use a small amount of cooking spray but no oils, butter, margarine, or spreads.
• Any additional calories or consumption of foods not explicitly listed as allowed will interrupt the action of HCG and you will see no weight loss for at least three days.
• You are allowed two fruits per day from the following list: apples, oranges, half-grapefruits, or strawberries. You may have one of the fruits for breakfast, if desired. You may not save your fruits and consume them at the same meal. The second fruit may be consumed at any time throughout the day as long as it is at least three hours after consuming the first fruit and at least three hours before bedtime. In addition, you are allowed the juice of one lemon per day to use as you wish (add to foods or water, use as salad dressing, etc).
• Acceptable vegetables are asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, fennel, lettuce, onions, radishes, spinach, tomatoes, and salsa. Do not consume other vegetables, regardless of calories, because they will interfere with the metabolic processes that allow you to lose weight on this diet.
• If you need between meal snacks, we recommend sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, or Melba toast. These calories count toward the daily 500 calorie total.
• If you eat fewer than 500 calories in a day, you cannot add the difference to another day.
• Up to two cans (24 ounces total) of diet soda (must be zero calories) may be consumed each day.
• Use a food scale to weigh meal ingredients. It is very difficult to accurately estimate the weight of meats and vegetables by volume and it is easy to consume too many calories on this diet. We recommend that you divide whole or cubed meat portions into 100 gram, precooked portions and freeze them in zip lock bags for easy future use.
• Find and use a calorie counter that you like. There are many free online sites and free or inexpensive applications for your smartphone or PC that record your food intake, calculate the calories, and allow you to access nutritional information for raw, cooked, and restaurant foods.

Diet Tips After Day 3

Breakfast:

• Drink plenty of water, tea, or coffee (no sugar, milk, skim milk, cream, or artificial creamers).

Lunch and Dinner:

• Eat no more than 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of lean protein such as chicken breast, lean beef, lean pork, cod, crab, shrimp, tilapia, trout, or bass. Oily fishes such as tuna or salmon are not allowed. The 3.5 ounce limit is the precooked weight.
• Vegetables can be eaten raw, steamed, or grilled.
• Use apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or low-sugar salsa for salad dressing.