The new year is here and many will be loading again.  We will have a rerun session on tips for getting started correctly, loading, detox and much more.

Loading is key to making this a success for you! Those who do not load correctly experience hunger during the first three to four days of the 500 calorie diet, while those who load correctly report low-to-no hunger.  Make sure you take the hCG on loading days. The loading works with the hCG to prepare your body for the changes coming.  Begin taking the drops at 10 drops, three times a day during loading and then increase as needed up to 96 total per day.

The hCG burns your abnormal fat stores for fuel, but it does not begin working until the third dose, so eating 500 calories without this effect of hCG will cause you problems in terms of losing structural fat and being extremely hungry until it does begin to work.

Dr. Simeons’ Protocol states to ‘eat to capacity’ for those first 2-3 days on the hCG diet. If you experience a gain while loading, do not be concerned.  Most users release all of their load weight plus additional weight within the first two VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) days.. Consume foods high in fat, sugars, and starches. Eat as much fatty foods as you can like avocados, almond butter, and olive oil.  Drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, Coconut Oil on everything! Eat bacon, sausage, pepperoni, and load lots of butter on veggies. Eat ice cream, real whip cream, chocolates, french fries, loaded baked potato, pizza, cream, cheese, etc.
You get the idea!

The loading process may be bewildering to first time hCGers, but those who are one their second or third rounds know the importance of loading.  Eating as much as you can handle for the first two to three days will help prevent the feeling of hunger in the first few days of the 500 calorie diet.

Today is my second day of loading and I have been enjoying lots of delicious foods that are completely off the regular hCG protocol.  So far I’ve had homemade brownies, soda, Chinese food, gold fish, chips, pancakes, bread, and a few other things.  For tomorrow I may have to bust out the whip cream like Skinny Jeans Carol did in her vlog a while back.

If you have any good suggestions for loading foods let me know!

Headaches are normal for the first few days of Phase 2 on the hCG diet as the body adjusts to the 500 calorie diet. It is also normal during phase 1 loading due to the extra intake of sugars. While taking hCG it is okay to take aspirin for headaches and other pains.

If you are drinking large amounts of caffeinated beverages (coffee and tea), then be sure to also drink a good amount of water or cut back on the caffeine to avoid dehydration which can cause headaches.  If you take an aspirin be sure to use one that has little or no caffeine.

On the other hand you may be experiencing a headache because your body is craving caffeine.  If you normally drink two cups of coffee but today you skipped them and now have a headache, they try drinking a cup or taking an aspirin that has caffeine.

Many people find that drinking chamomile tea helps keep off headaches and it is best to drink it at the first signs of a headache.  Chamomile tea is available in most stores and can also be found in our marketplace under the Tea and Drinks category.

Additional ways to fight off headaches include taking a warm bath or shower or enjoying a relaxing nap.

Visit the WebMD Headache Center for more information on headache prevention and remedies.

The loading process may be bewildering to first time hCGers, but those who are one their second or third rounds know the importance of loading.  Eating as much as you can handle for the first two to three days will help prevent the feeling of hunger in the first few days of the 500 calorie diet.

Today is my second day of loading and I have been enjoying lots of delicious foods that are completely off the regular hCG protocol.  So far I’ve had homemade brownies, soda, Chinese food, gold fish, chips, pancakes, bread, and a few other things.  For tomorrow I may have to bust out the whip cream like Skinny Jeans Carol did in her vlog a while back.

If you have any good suggestions for loading foods let me know!

-Jacob

Chocolate shake on the hCG diet?  You better believe it.

1/2 C. Greek Yogurt
1 scoop protein powder (I used chocolate)
1 Tbsp organic, no sugar added peanut butter
3/4 C. Almond Milk
A few drops of Stevia (I used English Toffee)
1-2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream (optional)

Mix together with a blender or Magic Bullet. Refrigerate for a short time and enjoy!

There are four phases to the hCG Diet.

Phase 1:

Phase one is preparing for the diet.  This is a preparatory phase that is very important but many skip.  We recommend at least reading Pounds and Inches and trying one of the detox methods as you await your shipment.  You can use this time to read Pounds and Inches, do your measurements( check out the myotape) and work on detoxing your body to prepare for the diet.  Try the Ultimate Detox Cleanse.  Click here for all your Phase 1 information.

Phase 2:

When you start taking the hCG drops is the beginning of phase 2.  The first 3 days of phase 2 you will be eating a high fat diet while taking your drops 3x a day.  Hold the drops under your tongue for a minimum of two minutes to absorb the hCG sublingually.  You will then start building your fat reserves while the hCG is starting to build in your system.  On Day 4 you will begin your start of the VLCD diet.  This will be 500 calories while taking the hCG 3x a day.  There are two programs a 23 day plan and a 43 day plan.  Depending on which you are on you will continue the 500 calorie diet.  Here is an example day on the hCG diet.  Click here for Phase 2 tips and recipe informaiton.

Phase 3:

This phase is one of the most important phases of the diet.  The goal here is maintenance.  You do not want to lose or gain during this 3 week period following your last doseage weight.  Dr. Simeons says in Pounds and Inches you are resetting your hypothalomus to this new weight so your body will remember it and it will keep you from gaining back weight in the future.  You do not want your weight do go above or below 2lbs. of your LDW.  During this cycle you are to have 1500 calories including fats with no startches or sugars.  If  you need more calories to maintain (if you are still losing on 1500 increase your calories to avoid any weight fluctuations, men especially sometimes need to do this to keep their LDW).  After you have reached stabilization you will want to slowly start adding in items one at a time to see how your body responds.   You will monitor this by weighing daily and seeing if a new food has caused you to gain.  Once you have stabilized for 3 weeks you can return to p2 (if you are taking injections this is 6 weeks) or you can move on to P4, which is the phase once you have reached your goal weight and are ready for lifetime maintenance.  If you experience a gain during your stabilization period immediately do a Steak Day or Alternative Correction Day.  Click here to visit the Phase 3 category for tips and recipes.

Phase 4:

Once you achieve your goal weight you are ready for phase 4.  Phase 4 is the “forever” phase.   We do not ever want to return to our previous weight and will want to maintain and stay at our LDW.  Phase 4 is actually easy once you have stabilized correctly.  If you happen to have an off day the weight comes right back off easily and you can continue this process.  In Phase 4 you can begin to add back in limited sugars and startches.  I know for me I love chocolate and have tested this in phase 4, while I do not eat it everyday I have been able to enjoy the “treats” in life i.e. Pizza, a donut, cereal etc when testing the phase 4 lifestyle with no gains.  You will always want to monitor your weight so that if you have a serious gain you can correct it, but it is easier to have a treat in p4 and actually see no gain at all.  Click here for all your Phase 4 category information.

I hope this information was helpful.  I know the phases can be confusing.  You need to know this terminology to get the correct recipes for which phase you are in.  There is a category section on the right side bar of the blog for your convenience.  We are here to help and you will be seeing more p4 information as Carol and I have been in phase 4 for months now.  We are an interactive site so please share any tips or recipes you think others would find helpful and we will all be healthier and skinnier together.

We have a guest blogger today.  We welcome any of you who would like to share your story to send it to us via email and we will be happy to post it.

Hi everyone, my name is Jacob and I am on day 3 of loading for the hCG diet plan.  So far so good!  This seems like the easiest part of the diet.  I basically just continue with my bad eating habits, throw in some extra junk food and chocolate, and take the hCG drops.

As I am writing this it is 5pm here in sunny Arizona and I am just 7 hours away from going on the low calorie diet.  Being a true procrastinator, I have yet to buy a single item on the hCG shopping list.  It seems a little strange to be munching on junk food while preparing a grocery list of food that would make any health doctor proud, but it is all part of the “Simeons protocol”.  I am really excited about some of the foods like shrimp, crab, and chicken which I love, and a little nervous about what is not on the list like fettuccine alfredo, mashed potatoes, and dark chocolate.  One of the advantages of this diet not being “fresh off the shelf” though is that there is a plethora of recipes that sound delicious.

I actually found a recipe for grissini a few days ago and decided to give it a try before I start the diet since I had never heard of grissini before and it turns out they are pretty good.  A little too good since my family managed to eat them all up, so I will have to make some more now!

I have asked Jacob to share the Grissini recipe with us and will update this post with it when I receive it.

Loading is so important to do. Those who don’t load correctly have hunger for the first 3-4 days while those who load well report low-to-no hunger. Read more on loading on a recent post. One item that is good to load with is butter but it’s hard to get a lot of that into your system unless you load up the butter of veggies or bread (not popular on loading days) so here a way to get butter in! Eat to capacity! Good for those on the run or something to nibble on to help get loaded.

Butter Cookies
1/2 lb butter
1 C. Sugar
2 C. Flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp Almond or lemon extract
Preheat oven to 350* Mix ingredients in order given. Make in balls the size of walnuts and press down. Bake until light brown.

Thank you Lisa for this recipe. Glad it worked well for you!

For those of you starting the hCG protocol in the new year, here is a few tips on having a successful loading days!

It is important that you LOAD, LOAD, LOAD!

Loading is key to making this a success for you! It is so important as the loading works with the hCG to prep your body for the changes coming. Those who don’t load correctly have hunger for the first 3-4 days while those who load well report low-to-no hunger. Make sure you take the hCG on loading days. Begin your day with your drops and then follow it by eating everything in sight!

The hCG burns your abnormal fat stores for fuel does not kick in until the third dose, so eating 500 calories without this effect of hCG will cause you problems in terms of losing structural fat and being extremely hungry until it does kick in.

Dr. Simeons’ protocol states to ‘eat to capacity’ for those first 2 days on the hCG. Don’t worry about the gain, if any. Most users release all the load weight plus additional weight within the first two VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) days, whether they load intensely or lightly. Consume foods high in fat. sugars & starches. Eat as much fatty foods as you can like avocados, almond butter, olive oil and the like. Drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, Coconut Oil on everything! Eat deep fried food and even enjoy some chips or Crispy Creme Donuts! Eat bacon, sausage, pepperoni, and load lots of butter on veggies. Eat ice cream, real whip cream, chocolates, french fries, loaded baked potato, pizza, cream, cheese, etc. You get the idea!

There is no BETTER time then to start the hCG Diet than during Thanksgiving Break. The first 3 days of this diet is called loading and you can eat as much fattening foods as you want, while taking the drops. I can think of no better day to start loading for this diet than Thanksgiving Day!  You will be ready for the low calorie healthy diet after 3 days of turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie.   Be looking for the TURKEY Special coming soon!

Load, Load, Load! Do not limit your food during these days! The more you eat, the better results you are going to have. Those who do not load properly have experienced hunger pains throughout the protocol, in particular the first week. Eating fattening food is very necessary for the diet to work correctly, and more importantly to re-establish the structural fat that’s been  lost years of fad-dieting. You should gain weight on the loading days, don’t worry, you will lose it all within the first week, probably even the first 2 days!

Eat foods that you crave that are especially high in fat such as ice cream, cakes, cookies, high fat creams, pastries, chocolate, etc. Focus on high caloric creamy foods. Dr. Simeons specifically lists milk chocolate, pastries with whipped cream, sugar, fried meats (particularly pork), eggs and bacon, mayonnaise, bread with thick butter and jam, etc. We recommend you eat at least some of these foods. Drink whatever you want on your load days; including soda, beer, wine, sake, etc.

It may not be easy to load yourself with really fatty, unhealthy items, so here is a list of healthy items you can load on that are high in fat.

• Drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, Coconut Oil on everything!
• Avocados
• Nuts: Walnuts, Macadamia Nuts, Pecans, Pine Nuts. Nut Butters are also good.
• Seeds: Sesame, Sunflower, Pumpkin
• Olives: Green or black

Check out the Download page for getting started tips: Click here

Check out the Marketplace for all your hCG need: Click here

Purchase hCG Drops: Click here

Many people have found that cleansing the body helps prepare the body for what is to come ahead. A Candida cleanse helps with sugar cravings and a colon cleanse can begin the process of clearing out the toxins and prevent constipation during the protocol. Also, a detox bath can be helpful. See our article on detox baths.

Take the time to read and know the protocol. Also download and read other helpful information in our downloads section.

Give up Splenda, Aspartame and MSG. They all make you hungry and are fuel addictions.

Make sure your schedule is ready to take on your new diet (i.e. no vacations planned, etc.) and that you start right after TOM (Time of Month)

Spend time planning your meals, shopping for the protocol, and checking out the recipes.

Mentally prepare for this protocol. Think about of how you are going to handle the day-to-day situations – the foods you are going to make and how you will handle your family meals. Get prepared to be committed to this protocol. If you are not, then you will not succeed.