Have you ever struggled with your weightloss like me? For some its a struggle of 75+ pounds, for others, the last 20 that just won’t come off is equally frustrating. For new (or seasoned) mommas, the babyweight is always a daunting chore. Well, you are in good company! Welcome to my post-baby-weight weightloss journey on the hCG diet!!! This entry and a few entries following with be carefully following my weightloss journey with the HCG diet. First, I am not aiming to lose astronomical amounts of weight. Only about 20-25 lbs. After having my fourth son almost four years ago, I was lazy during breastfeeding and did not work to get the baby weight off, and have struggled ever since to get back down to my pre-baby size. I have tried a number of different approaches, all healthy options, but I don’t think I was motivated enough to do something strict. Finally, it dawned on me, I have been whining and complaining about this struggle for nearly four years now, and have given a half-effort to about six different methods, and have seen no sustained progress. Enough is enough!! There is no excuse for whining. If I have a goal, I will find a way to reach it. So, as I was shopping last week I came across some HCG drops on sale and thought, “Hmm, these are cheap, I’ll just buy them, research and see if it’s worth trying.” I got home, opened them up and read the diet plan and was like, “hah! yeah right!” and put them away. But as I did research and came across friends who had had great success on this diet, I saw that doctors were giving it the thumbs up (in fact it was designed by a doctor), and the food prescribed in the diet is very healthy, I thought, “Well, maybe I could just buckle down and work hard and see some results.” So, that’s what I did. I bought the necessary food, prayed for grace ;), and jumped in a week ago. And I have been so excited by my results! So excited in fact, I thought I’d share on here with ya’ll in case any of you have found yourself in a similar frustrating situation. First, let me give you an overview of the diet. (If you’re looking for a good book to really understand it, this cookbook is excellent. It explains the diet AND gives you recipes. Two for one!)
Below are my BEFORE photos… Check out Part 2 to see my Week 1 results! Keep reading to see a summary of the diet.
Phase 1: Loading phase. Two days.
- Take HCG drops three times per day before meals; don’t drink or eat within 15 minutes of taking the drops so as not to dilute them in your system.
- This phase is two days of eating as much FATTY foods as possible. These fat stores help your body more gracefully adapt to the next phase which is the Very Low Calorie Diet phase (VLCD). I didn’t take this phase very seriously and wish I would have. My first three days, especially the third were tough. Plus, who doesn’t like an excuse to eat every fatty food you ever wanted? No food is off limits.
Phase 2: Very Low Calorie Diet with weightloss. Day 3-40
- Again, you will be taking the HCG drops three times daily, not within 15 minutes of water or food.
- This phase of the diet focuses on putting your body into Ketosis state, which is where your body is living off your own fat stores. You can lose 1-2 lbs of fat per DAY.
- The calorie goal these days is to stay within 500 calories.
- On these days you typically skip breakfast but spend the morning drinking herbal teas, black coffee or water. At least 32 Oz of liquids is your goal. It is good to go the way of decaffeinated drinks so you don’t get jittery. Lunch and Dinner is created from the selected foods in the lists below.
- No exercising for these days. Activity should be kept to a gentle stroll. You need all the calories you are taking in!
Foods For The HCG Diet Phase 2This is a list of foods you can eat while doing Phase 2 of the HCG Diet. VEGETABLES PROTEINS FRUIT – Apples DRINK & OTHERS |
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Phase 3: Stabilization phase. 3 Weeks. CRUCIAL TO YOUR SUCCESS!!
- The first three days of this phase you keep eating the VLCD but withOUT HCG drops so that you can give your body time to get the hormone out of your body before introducing new foods.
- On the fourth day you can begin introducing new foods SLOWLY back into your diet. The reason for this is because your body has trained itself to such limited calories and types of foods that to go back to regular eating straight away would shock your system and put the weight right back on.
- In this phase you bring your caloric intake up to 800-1000 calories, gradually working your way up to 1500 calories.
- Go to this page for a detailed food list. http://www.hcgdietdrops.com/hcg-phase-3-other-food-list.html
- This phase is characterized by three daily habits:
- you must weigh yourself every day
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- you must remain within 2 pounds of your last injection weight (over *OR* under) and,
- you cannot eat sugars and starches (which is carbohydrates minus the fiber)
- Exercise: You can re-introduce exercise in this phase. Your goal should be 30min-1 hour 3-4 times per week.
- For more details on this phase, go here.
- For success tips and menu samples, go here.
Phase 4: Maintenance phase. The rest of your life!
- This phase you can bring your calorie intake up to 1800-2000.
- In phase 4 when your weight has become consistent and stable you will start to re-introduce sugars and starches back into your diet. Starting off slow is always good. Don’t go binging!
- To maintain your weight, you will have learned a lot of healthy alternatives, so use them in this phase!
- For the first three weeks you are watching very carefully and very slowly working sugars, like chocolate or bread, into your diet. But do only one per day to see how your body responds. As your body gets used to this foreign object and learns how to metabolize it, you can settle into a nice little routine.
- Use your natural sugar subsitutes and develop a habit of having a splurge meal only once or twice a week. Be careful still though, as you can rack up on calories if you’re not mindful of how much is going in.
- Focus eating still on fruits vegetables and proteins, and let grains and sugars be the smaller portions of your meals. Keep sugar in moderation.
Links to help:
Phases 3 & 4:
- Tips and tricks.
- 100 Foods you CAN eat on phase 3 & 4.
- Here is a GREAT cookbook that also explains the diet. Having good recipes also makes the diet so much easier to keep up with while you’re on it.
So that’s the overview of the diet. The first few days are the most challenging, but as your body adapts, it will become much easier. Let your thinking about food change WITH the food, so that after you’re done, you don’t return to old habits.
Below are my BEFORE photos… Check out Part 2 to see my Week 1 results!