The HCG Diet

I know I have many concerned friends, but I want everyone to know that I really am going to be smart about this. If I feel like I am losing control, losing too much, becoming unhealthy, or anything negative, I will definitely be stopping. Pinky swear.

As for diet, here is how it works.....

HCG drops are taken 3 times a day via the oral syringe - 0.38 ml to be exact. This is placed under your tongue and held for 15 seconds before swallowing.


Days 1-2: Fat loading + HCG drops
This stage is where you eat full portions of high fat foods - this step cannot be skipped, no matter how hard it is to do. It was so difficult for me to fat load - I never eat high fat foods and it truly did make me nautious. The purpose of this step is to stock normal fat cells and prepare the body to burn abnormal fats, resulting in true, healthy weight loss.

A few pointers / things I did
-I ceased crunches and arm weights during this stage
-Instead of having 3 full portioned meals, I stuck to my normal full 2 portions that I normally would eat on a regular given day to avoid any kind of inconsistency


Day 3-13
Starting day 3, the HCG drops continue, of course and the 500 calorie diet begins.You are also advised to take multi vitamins, which I am.


A sample menu:

breakfast
- tea or coffee in any amount (1 tbsp of milk allowed per day) without sugar

lunch
- 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab or shrimp
- one type of vegetable from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radish, cucumbers, asparagus, or cabbage. Reasonable portions
- one breadstick or melba toast
- an orange, apple, 6-9 strawberries, of 1/2 grapefruit

dinner
- same choices as above - you cannot eat the same meat twice a day

The meals can be broken up, so say you want a breadstick for a snack in the morning and an orange before bed, you can do that as long as you deduct from the daily portion. No condiments containing fat and sugar are allowed - this includes oils, butter and dressings.

A few pointers/things I did
- I continued exercise. 100 crunches a day and 100 ARM reps with 5 lbs weights. I want to be sure I am not losing muscle...well whatever muscle I have. This type of exercise is acceptable. Good thing I'm not a runner!
- Breaking up the fruit and "bread" by having them for snack has worked for me better on the first few days
- Modify your eating schedule as you see fit to your needs. I have a set time range that I want to be eating just to be sure I am keeping myself satisfied
- I have THE coolest little invention...a bobble water bottle! I drink 3 of these a day of water
- the HCG drops need to be taken 3 times a day. You cannot have anything to drink 15 min before or after so I take them the minute I wake up so I can get ready, shower, etc and then brush my teeth. 2nd is taken between snack and lunch. 3rd is taken while making dinner. It works perfect and is brainless. It has almost become a norm!


Day 14-16
The past 3 days of the diet require that you continue on the 500 calorie diet but stop the HCG drops so your body can remove the HCG out of it's system.


Maintenance Phase - next 3 weeks
It takes about 3 weeks for your body to stabilize your new weight. This next phase is crucial as you are training your body to remain at it's new consistent weight in preparation for adding starches back into your diet. The max calories should be 1500/day. Typical breakfast, lunch and dinner will be eaten through the day. During this period, it's important to realize that sugars and carbs are dangerous. Healthy meals of meats, fruits and vegetables should be eaten while adding in good fats (olive oil, nuts, dairy, eggs, etc).You can also add exercise back in...woo...NOT! :)


A sample menu:

breakfast
- egg white omelet with onions, swiss cheese and spinach. Ok, I LOVE egg whites so this is going to be incredible!! I will be swapping the cheese for a piece or two of turkey bacon!

morning snack
- celery with peanut butter

lunch
- green salad with grilled chicken, vegetables and light dressing

afternoon snack
- plain yogurt with berries or nuts....HELLO yogurt and granola!

dinner
- salmon with steamed brocolli

evening snack
- almonds and string cheese


Ok guys..so there you have it. The cliff notes version of the HCG diet!

Day #4

WOO HOO!! Woke up this morning and weighed myself. Down 2 lbs from my start weight...which means I technically lost the 2/3 ish lbs I gained from fat loading. I am pretty sure this is water weight and adjustment weight, but I'll take it! It's motivation :)

Today was interesting. It was day 1 back to the office and it was very difficult. There were about 12038131093812 things coming at me at once and holding a conversation is still very hard for me...although my cold is gone and the asthma/lung issues are subsiding, I'm not used to speaking for 8 hours a day (shocking, I know!). Anyway, made it through the day even though I was a bit fussy. The combination of the stress from work, constant people, and being out in "public" added to my body's adjustment to this diet. Regardless, I feel great...no blood sugar issues, no nausea, no shakes..just fabulous!!!

I made an incredible dinner tonight...not gonna lie. I may be making things like this more often (I think Chris would love it too!). I can only have 100 grams of each kind of meat so I weighed out the shrimp I bought - 6 of them (de-veined, tail removed, and shell tossed) made the weight! I put them on the bottom of a non stick sauce pan (don't ask me why I used a sauce pan..no idea) and filled it with water so that the bottom half of the shrimp is submerged. Then, I added garlic and onion powder (quite a bit actually) so the shrimp can cook in super yummy water! I cooked on low-medium..it was slow, but tasted SO good! The broccoli came next..I used this steamer pink plastic thingy (pic below) to make broccoli that was barely steamed. I like it to stay a bit crunchy. The end result was.....AH-MAZING!!! I made 2 batches so 1 is for lunch tomorrow!!!

Food for day #4

Breakfast - giant cup of water after my HCG
Lunch - green salad with grilled chicken and homemade pico on top
Snack - 3 pieces of Melba crisps and an orange
Dinner - the AMAZING shrimp and broccoli I made
Snack - juicy Fuji apple

Poundage lost - 2 lbs!!

Day #3 - 1st day of the real diet

So...I survived the first day!!! I must admit, I am very proud of myself for actually sticking to something as strict as this. Day #3 (Monday) was a bit of an adjustment for me in basically every aspect of my life. I was prepping for the next day my first day back at the office since before Christmas, I had to be around "bad" foods in my house ALL DAY (ughhhh!!!), I had to incorporate the same small amount of "exercise" I do with reduced calories, AND I had to make my first dinner for Chris...his food being real, mine being HCG. That was probably the hardest part. I felt nautious during day 1 and 2 and I have confirmed that it was due to all the crapolla I was eating. I felt just fine on the drops today :)

Food for day #3 - Monday - Day #1 of the actual diet

Breakfast - a giant glass of water after my HCG drops
Lunch - the grilled chicken & broccoli I made yesterday - I put Braggs aminos on them..and YUM!
Snack - a "fake out" orange. Those are the ones that look like a good sized orange..but the skin is 1/2 of it's size. boo! 3 Melba crips (they are equivalent to 1 Melba toast)
Dinner - a green salad with super lean ground beef with homemade taco seasoning (HCG approved!). I made Chris super lean ground beef nachos and homemade pico!
Snack - another orange...even cut Chris an apple

Poundage lost - 0 :(

Day #1 and 2

Saturday, January 7th and Sunday, January 8th were days #1 and #2 of HCG. Both days were loaded with high fat foods and bad food decisions to store up fat for the next 14 days. As part of the first stage in this diet, I needed to also start taking the HCG drops 3 times a day. The drops are clear in color and have an extremely funky taste to them - something I can't even start to describe. Before breakfast, lunch and dunner, 0.38ml gets placed under your tounge and is held there for 15 seconds (barf) before swallowing. You can't have anything to eat or drink for 15 min prior and after the drops to allow for full absorbtion...so you are basically stuck with the icky taste.

As for the meals, it gets interesting - I will post another blog entry with what this looks like when I have a bit more time this evening.

Sunday night was spent weighing raw chicken and attempting to make the most appetizing lunches possible. Chris found humor and concern in watching me cut chicken and weigh the pieces - it reminded us of an intervention we recently saw where twin girls were obsessively weighing each crumb of food they ate. It was ridiculous but also very disturbing. Anyway, enough about that. I ended up grilling chicken in my new le cruset frying pan (yay!!). I made two meals:

meal #1
- 100 grams of grilled chicken with garlic poweder and a bit of oregano
- a reasonable portion of mixed greens only

meal #2
- 100 grams of grilled chicken with garlic powder and a bit of oregano
- steamed brocolli (I will probably put fresh lemon on this once I am ready to chow down)


At the end of day #1 and #2, I feel questionable. I am not used to eating high fat foods (see below) and am also not used to the additional HCG in my system so I am not sure which of the two (or if it was both) that made me queasy a few times through the day. When we returned from watching the Broncos/Steelers game (steelers...you suck!), some of my lunch did come up :( I am hoping the remaining 11 days go smoothly and successfully!! HCG journey...here I come!


Food consumed:


Day #1 - Saturday
- 2 slices of Pagliacci's hawaiian pizza (lunch)
- 1 portion of Pagliacci's salad - full of cheese, beans, meats, and yummyness!!!! (lunch)
- a few chips and salsa (dinner)
- 1 slice of thin crust hawaiian pizza (dinner)
- cream cheese strawberry "mini bday cake" - this was hand made with love for Ben and Bryce's bday...yes, we stuck a candle in them and sang :) (dinner)
- 3 or 4 mai tais, 1 screw driver and 1 shot of absenthe....hey...I had to get my share before I have to swear it off (dinner)


Day #2
- french fries and a 4 chicken nuggets with bbq and sweet & sour sauce (breakfast...i know, i know)
- super cheesy queso dip with chips (lunch)
- buffalo chicken wrap with pesto and coleslaw (lunch)
- vietnamese grilled chicken, veggies, and rice noodle bowl (dinner)
- half baked Ben and Jerrys froyo with low fat granola (dessert)


the contents of the shopping bag :)