Anyone doing the HCG diet?

[terkatz56]

Oh and congrats to you Tarpit! Keep it a going:~)

[pudy68]

OK, so today is R1P2D1 (is that the correct format??)

 

Anyhow, first day of P2. Didn't eat breakfast, but took .5 mL of drops. Drank some water. For lunch, I scrambled up a 3.5 oz (wgt before cooking) hamburg patty (could only find 96% lean, but cals show less than Dr. Finsand's booklet) along with 1/4c onion. I wasn't sure what to use for spices so I put just a dash (very miniscule) of chili pwdr & celery salt. I served it on top of 1 c of mixed green lettuce and added about 1/2c of cukes and 1/4c of tomatoes. For crunch, I added 1 Melba toast (original) cracker, crumbled for a "crouton" effect. No salad dressings, etc. Is this ok?

 

I'm thinking that I will save both fruit servings to be eaten after supper, as a snack.

 

When you measure lettuce, do you compact it down, or just let the leafs lay casually in the cup? If casually, then there won't be much volume to eat!

 

Have you found any good recipes for tuna, hamburg or chicken? What does your typical menu look like (just give me one day)? Also, do you keep a log of food to track calories only?

 

Thanks for the input. :D

[carla63]

Pudy,

I do remember also reading that your fruits should be spread out throughout the day...at different times. But that is what is funny about this diet, what works for one, doesn't for the next. I know some like to save a fruit for later in day because they are late night snackers.

[pudy68]

Duly noted, Carla. :)

[terkatz56]

OK, so today is R1P2D1 (is that the correct format??)

 

Anyhow, first day of P2. Didn't eat breakfast, but took .5 mL of drops. Drank some water. For lunch, I scrambled up a 3.5 oz (wgt before cooking) hamburg patty (could only find 96% lean, but cals show less than Dr. Finsand's booklet) along with 1/4c onion. I wasn't sure what to use for spices so I put just a dash (very miniscule) of chili pwdr & celery salt. I served it on top of 1 c of mixed green lettuce and added about 1/2c of cukes and 1/4c of tomatoes. For crunch, I added 1 Melba toast (original) cracker, crumbled for a "crouton" effect. No salad dressings, etc. Is this ok?

 

I'm thinking that I will save both fruit servings to be eaten after supper, as a snack.

 

When you measure lettuce, do you compact it down, or just let the leafs lay casually in the cup? If casually, then there won't be much volume to eat!

 

Have you found any good recipes for tuna, hamburg or chicken? What does your typical menu look like (just give me one day)? Also, do you keep a log of food to track calories only?

 

Thanks for the input. :D

 

I probably won't be much help as far as what you are eating as I did the Dr Simeons protocol strictly. That didn't allow for mixing of veggies but do know that the site I sent you to has a different protocol..and that is ok too.

 

They also have a recipe section on that site, lots of tasty variations for you to try.

One of my favs was chicken or burger grilled and put into a leaf of lettuce and ate as a "taco" I used Mrs Dash and know that some had a minimal amount of sugar but it didn't really bother me or stall me. I did find that ground beef did tho. And really didn't eat much of it.

I found a small can of salsa that had no sugar and used that also.

 

I did tuna wraps in lettuce and also liked shrimp steamed and put on a salad.

[pudy68]

R1P2D5

This is way harder than I thought it would be. I am nauseous frequently, esp if I can smell anything I have previously cooked and eaten (like a pan in the sink). Forcing myself to eat is so difficult, and there's nothing that appeals to me besides the fruit. I've lost about 8 lbs, including the 3 I gained during P1, so I'm really only down 5, and I'm thinking I may have made a mistake ordering 3 bottles!:o

 

Help - will the nausea go away??? I've only had one bad headache day, so that's a plus.

 

Also, I don't understand why you can't just limit yourself to any 500 cal plan. The drops are supposed to tell the body to release the bad fat reserves, and since you are only eating 500 cals, the body is happy to do it now. Why does it matter where the 500 cals are coming from? This would be so much better if I could eat WW meals! Then I wouldn't feel so ill.

 

Sorry to gripe. Maybe everyone feels like this the first week....! I definitely need help with a menu.

 

Thanks.

[terkatz56]

R1P2D5

This is way harder than I thought it would be. I am nauseous frequently, esp if I can smell anything I have previously cooked and eaten (like a pan in the sink). Forcing myself to eat is so difficult, and there's nothing that appeals to me besides the fruit. I've lost about 8 lbs, including the 3 I gained during P1, so I'm really only down 5, and I'm thinking I may have made a mistake ordering 3 bottles!:o

 

Help - will the nausea go away??? I've only had one bad headache day, so that's a plus.

 

Also, I don't understand why you can't just limit yourself to any 500 cal plan. The drops are supposed to tell the body to release the bad fat reserves, and since you are only eating 500 cals, the body is happy to do it now. Why does it matter where the 500 cals are coming from? This would be so much better if I could eat WW meals! Then I wouldn't feel so ill.

 

Sorry to gripe. Maybe everyone feels like this the first week....! I definitely need help with a menu.

 

Thanks.

 

Sorry to hear you are having some problems. There is a rhyme and reason to the foods allowed and portions. Try to stick with it as the first few days/week is the hardest. Maybe detox is going on?

 

Anyways, I know you mentioned you skipped anything in the a.m. for breakfast....do you take any vitamins or medications? If you do...you really need to have something in your stomach. I always had one of my fruits in the a.m. and also a melba or two. That was enough to keep my nausea away.

 

Have you gone onto the site and looked at recipes? There are hundreds for P2. Let us know how we can help.

 

And 5 pounds in 5 days is great!:)

[pudy68]

No, I don't take any meds at all, nor vitamins in the morning. The protocol states not to eat breakfast, which is ok with me because I don't usually, although I would have a cup of green tea w/half-n-half back in the "good ole days". :)

 

I have been poking around the site for recipe ideas. I tried the buffalo chicken one, and that's good, minus the mound of celery. Some of them sound interesting, but I'm missing the ingredients right now. I will keep plugging away with this plan because it's working, but I am getting weary of being nauseated. Perhaps it is part of the detox stage and will pass. I hope you are right! :D

[Tar Pit]

In my diet I eat a orange in the AM, apple mid morning, 100 grams of protein and a vegetable (fish, cabbage today) 1 piece of melba toast late afternoon. Dinner is again the 100 grams of protein with a vegetable. With 1 gallon of water everyday.

 

Now I do take 3 vitamins/supplements.

 

Lifepack halal vitamins. Lunch and dinner.

Detox for my liver. Lunch and dinner.

Vitality for overall energy. Lunch.

 

The liver detox and the vitality has given me so much energy that I'm back to the gym 4 days a week.

 

Good luck with your diet. We know you can reach your goal.

[pudy68]

Thanks for the support Bighorn & Tar Pit.

 

I am going to try to make a soup next. I'm surprised to see that we can use boullion cubes, as they usually have salt and sugar in them. At least the 2 types I have on hand do! Maybe it's miniscule enough not to be overly concerned. I'm gonna try it out and hope for the best.

 

I just got my nails done and I'm feeling pretty again, so no more crabbing today!!:D

[terkatz56]

Hmmm...I would see if the nausea gets better...but if NOT by tomorrow...I would have a little to eat in the a.m. and spread all the food out the rest of the day....maybe saving enough for a dinner recipe.

 

Tarpit...do you do the active protocol...since you are exercising?

[Kudos2Fly]

New to this thread but not to the diet. I first did it in 2007 and lost about 20 pounds getting down to 117. Well over the past few years I have gained it back. For many different reasons one being that I was trying to "find" a way of eating that works for me. Plus some finanical problems which I went to comfort food for. :( Although there is no excuse for eating junk food. LOL:eek:

 

Finally I have decided that a "Paleo Diet" makes since to me and I have tried it for a month. My husband and I love that type of eating. I have found out my body doesn't do well with carbs at all. Other then the once in a while. I have tried eating them in small amounts. But doesn't really work for me. But Paleo seems to work well they even have "desserts" you can make that is legal.

 

As for our income things are looking up this year.

 

So I want to get my body back in shape. My plan is to start the Hcg diet this weekend. Do it for about 22-28 days. But this time I will be adding a vitamin B Complex and keep doing all my other vitamins that I normally do. Plus adding exercise in. Due to that fact I want to do exercise I probably will increase the calorie intake a little. I'm at about 143 right now and want to get down to 115-120. That is a good weight for me. Not sure if hubby will do it with me this time. But either way I plan on doing it.

 

Nice to see this thread....

[Kudos2Fly]

I just lost 26 lbs (in 40 days) since the beginning of April and I am now on Phase 3 for maintenance. Basically I turned P3 into the Atkins diet for myself for 3 weeks and then start adding in carbs and sugars slowly in week 4. My appetite is certainly smaller thank goodness.

 

Has anyone had any experience on how they did when they went on a cruise? I am nervous and don't want to gain on the trip. I'll definitely work out so that will help out.

 

I did this once while I was on Phase 3. I cut my portion in half at every meal and limited the "desserts". At breakfast it was easy. I just had a nice protein meal. Plus walk every where if you can. You can do it. I have have done this on a few cruises and only gained a pound. That was with having a few wines at night. I didn't have any of the "sweet" drinks.

[snorkelman]

My plan is to start the Hcg diet this weekend. Do it for about 22-28 days. But this time I will be adding ... adding exercise in. Due to that fact I want to do exercise I probably will increase the calorie intake a little. I'm at about 143 right now and want to get down to 115-120.

 

There is no way that you should even consider any serious exercise if you are not increasing calories. In general, from what I can see, nearly all protocols of the HCG diet have people eating around 500-700 calories. That calorie deficit is the reason for weight loss. If you try to exercise when you are only ingesting a very low amount of calories (500-700 is considered to be a very low calorie diet) then bad things will happen, including a pretty good likelihood of you passing out during exercising. Now if all you consider exercising to be walking to the far end of the parking lot, then something like that should be just fine, as it will not burn many calories.

[Kudos2Fly]

There is no way that you should even consider any serious exercise if you are not increasing calories. In general, from what I can see, nearly all protocols of the HCG diet have people eating around 500-700 calories. That calorie deficit is the reason for weight loss. If you try to exercise when you are only ingesting a very low amount of calories (500-700 is considered to be a very low calorie diet) then bad things will happen, including a pretty good likelihood of you passing out during exercising. Now if all you consider exercising to be walking to the far end of the parking lot, then something like that should be just fine, as it will not burn many calories.

 

I'm not doing "hard" work outs while on Hcg. My ideal of work outs is not going to a gym and working out 2-3 hours for 3 days an week or anything like that. I plan on doing some local walks and probably do a few sit ups or push ups, but nothing hard.

[terkatz56]

Many of the Naturopaths have revised HCG diets to allow 900 calories, considered the minimal calories one should take for the day.

there is ALOT of controversy with HCG, but for some of us, this has been the one diet that has actually worked, for whatever the reason.

I have done three rounds of the HCG strict protocol (500 calorie phase, lost 46 pounds) and plan on doing a revised 900 calorie round here the end of Feb.

I say...to each their own.

[pudy68]

R1P2D14

Lost 15 lbs so far...great start for me. The nausea finally went away. I am not counting calories, but I know I'm not going over 500. I try to eat 2 servings of protein a day, and a few veggies. I usually get the fruit in just fine, but I frequently miss some vegetables and melba toast.

 

I will say that making the soups for a couple of days really helped my tummy adjust, but it also caused stalls with the scale. The trade-off was worth it to me.

 

 

The book says one of the proteins can be steak. That's very generic. Does it matter what kind? For instance, rib-eye is my fav but it's loaded with fat, so I'm thinking that's a no-no. It talks about ground beef needing to be extra lean (98% not sold around these parts, so I can only find 96%). What types of steak do you do???

 

I'm still not sure how to tackle my business trip next Friday. I know I won't have access to plain foods while on the road. I can't eat a plain salad for all my meals. Even just ordering a plain chicken breast will still come with injected sugar/salt preservatives unless they are slaughtering out back! :eek: Since I know I won't be on the P2 plan, but I do want to resume once I get back home (after 7 days being gone), what would be the best transition into P2? Should I treat the week like a P1 loading week and still take the drops, and then start P2 eating once I'm home? Is there any reason this would be harmful? Still mulling over the options......

 

Thanks,

Julie

[Joeys3girlz]

Glad to have found this thread...I must say that I did eat out 2X while on P2 and continued to loose. I was VERY nervous but it worked! I ordered grilled fish seasoned well (no breading, no oil, no butter - I was VERY specific to the waitress) and my two sides were salads with vinegar only. I was full! The other time was grilled shrimp (2 orders at that :o) no oil, butter etc. and spinach salad with tomatoes and vinegar only.

 

Now I am on P3 and stabilizing...I truly refuse to ruin it for myself as much as I am a food addict. I cruise in 1 month and I plan to wear the bikini for my hubby (AND ME!!) that I never have been able to. I have lost pounds and inches :o)

 

I plan to bring my drops for R2 and take them the last two days of the cruise to LOAD and then lose the pounds gained to reach my final goal.

 

Anyone else do load days on a cruise?

 

Happy healthy eating and cruising!

[Kudos2Fly]

Anyone else do load days on a cruise?

 

No, but I would think it would be VERY EASY.. Just have to be careful not to make your self sick. I did think about doing that on a short cruise we were planning but for some reason it didn't work out.

 

I have lost 10 pounds so far since my load days. I'm now at 141 I only lost .4 yesterday, but I think that's because I didn't drink enough water. But today I plan on also getting a walk in today. It will be interesting to see what my weight is tomorrow.

[Joeys3girlz]

Hello fellow Hcg'ers!

 

Anyone losing their appetite or lost cravings for their favorite foods?

I really cruise to eat (and relax) and now I'm worried my palate is changing.

 

Continued success to all!

[Kudos2Fly]

Hello fellow Hcg'ers!

 

Anyone losing their appetite or lost cravings for their favorite foods?

I really cruise to eat (and relax) and now I'm worried my palate is changing.

 

Continued success to all!

 

No I don't think so. I have done Hcg two times before. This will be my third time. I wish I did lose my taste for certain foods... :rolleyes: I finally realize that I can't eat what ever I want when it comes to carbs and sugar. So "those" types of foods I really have to cut back on. Once you start to eat those types of foods again as least for me, your body will start to crave them over again. But as for all other foods no I didn't lose any of my favorite foods. I like everything I eat before going on the diet.

 

I don't necessarily cruise for food. But still enjoy in par-taking in all that is offer on a cruise ship. If you "watch" your portions and only eat half of what is served to you at dinner, you will be fine. Also walk every where. I don't go to the gym on the ship. But by only walking to most places and watching my portions, one time I only gained one pound on a cruise. By the way I didn't hold back on having dessert on that cruise either....

[bt495]

I am currently in Phase 3 of this diet. I lost 23 pounds in 40 days. I bought my homeopathic drops online, but know of people using the pill or drops from GNC. Lucky for me my DH was dieting as well. My sister also was dieting. We all chose to go this route. What I did was cook everyone's dinner and would have just enough left over for lunches the next day. I bought a cookbook through Amazon titled "HCG Diet Gourmet Cookbook" by Tammy Skye. This was awesome! Her recipes are easy and I could be creative myself with some of my own ideas. (She also has Phase 3 modifications with most of the recipes) We actually enjoyed our dinners and smoothie type strawberry desserts etc. None of us ever felt starved or deprived. For us this is a new way of eating. We are basically following a loose Adkins style of eating in P3. As far as the cruise goes I intend to skip most desserts and starches. I love meat and veggies so I don't think it will be too hard. I am sure they are pretty creative with some fruits that will work for me! But I also intend to get up early and hit the track onboard! Yuck, but I have no intention of undoing all I have done! I sail on April 2nd and may do a second round for the last 10 pounds I want to lose. If I want chocolate at this point or on the cruise then extra walking or jogging is the consequences verses fat being the consequences. Good luck everyone on your diets!

[Joeys3girlz]

Kudos2Fly,

Thanks so much for the tips. I appreciate it.

That was great that you were able to enjoy yourself and gain only 1 pound!

That's success :o)

 

Continued success to all!

[pudy68]

Hi gang,

I'm back from my business trip and this is what I did:

 

I treated the week similar to a P1 loading week, minus all the extreme overeating that P1 condones, and I still took the drops. Once I got home, I weighed in at +5.5 lbs and started P2 eating again. I quickly lost the 5.5 lbs in only 2 days and I am back on track again. I am planning on doing another full round of P2 before trying P3.

 

Has anyone opted for the new Amino drops during P3 so the weight keeps comig off? Not sure if it's as effective as the HCG drops, but it's the same company and this new Amino version is being made as the replacement for the HCG drops that the FDA is stopping.

 

Hope all is going well with your rounds.

 

Julie

[dave05218]

can someone with experience with this hcg message me i have some questions..

thanks