Thursday, July 22, 2010
How the HCG Diet Works
The HCG weight loss diet is well known for its own merits. Factors such as safe-to-use, non-starvation, no-side effects are reasons why most internists and medical practitioners do recommend the HCG diet. For the weak-willed dieters there are numerous HCG recipes available online which you can use. This will kill the monotony of the HCG diet. When HCG was first introduced, I thought it was going to be yet another flash in the pan and that it was not going to give anything fruitful other than being a mere marketing trick. I tried it myself to see if this was true. I had tried a few others and they seemed to work initially but never gave long-term results.
My experience has proved that it works and the reason is practical. It burns the existent fat in the body and by limited intake of calories, I am able to avoid adding the unwanted pounds. In a month's plan, I have been successful in crashing 30 lbs and this realization was one of the most special moments in life. This is why I feel it is a feat. For someone who has had tough times dealing with obesity, it is a truly great experience to attain weight loss to the desired degree or more. It boosted my confidence and felt like I was living a healthy life!
What generally happens is that once the weight loss feat is achieved the diet which led to weight loss is discarded. This will only pull you back to square one. You must continue to keep check on the diet and keep a healthy lifestyle to keep the unwanted pounds away. Being on the HCG weight loss diet for some time, thereby losing weight and then subsequently getting back to overeating and laziness is of no good. You know for sure that it is not easy to lose weight once you keep adding it on. So it would be wise to adopt the HCG diet and stick to it plus a healthy lifestyle, to remain in good shape.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
What to Expect From The HCG Diet.
The HCG Diet is very popular, and expect to hear a lot of pros and cons online, and elsewhere. There are many misconceptions, and misleading information. The purpose of this post is to educate people on what the HCG diet is really about, and what to expect out of the diet.
Injections...Really??
What people first hear about the Hcg diet are the words hormones and injections. That may sound scary, until you understand you don't have to do injections. And the hormone is natural to the body. You take such a small amount, that men can do this diet, as well as women. If you do not like taking shots, HCG oral drops are not only a great alternative, but also much cheaper.
What are the benefits?
Well, Dr Simeons wrote a book called Pounds and Inches for other doctors and he says that HCG causes a change in metabolism. He says it makes your body mobilize fat out of the fat storage locations. Weight loss comes from adipose tissue, not muscle. Contrary to what you may hear, Hcg does not strip the body of vitamins and minerals. If you follow the diet, you can keep the weight off!
How does the HCG diet work?
Generally you eat a meal of lean meat, chicken, fish, shrimp or lobster, one fruit and one vegetable, twice daily. (There are a few exceptions.) When you first start you can eat a big salad of all the vegetables, and next thing you know 2 weeks later you have lost 20 pounds. Find out more on what to eat while on the HCG diet.
What can you expect?
You will lose fast mostly in the waist and stomach. You'll reduce any fat pads like a double chin and love handles. You'll lose that inner knee and thigh fat with no sagging skin. The diet actually helps you do body contouring without exercise. Typically people lose 1-2 pounds per day on the HCG diet.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
HCG Diet Encourages Role Models
Current trends make it very clear that the incidences of childhood and adolescent obesity continue to increase. Jenny Boynton responds, "We believe that discussing the problem is the first step. It brings awareness to the fact that this is a nationwide problem and it is definitely time to take action. If parents see a problem in their children they should first consider their example. Do they have a weight issue? If so, are they teaching their children to adopt the same unhealthy habits? If so, as a family, discuss your options with a professional."
Experts suggest that simply sitting down to regular meal times as a family can decrease the risk of unhealthy weight in children and adolescents. Another general word of advice offered for families aware of the issue is to incorporate raw foods into their diet. Families can also benefit as a whole from decreasing portion sizes and learning to replace high calorie foods (and desserts) with low calorie substitutes. For example, instead of habitually serving your chicken over rice you can serve the chicken as a stand-alone entrée with a whole wheat roll and steamed vegetables or if your family is big on meat and potatoes opt for smaller cuts of lean meats and sweet potatoes.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
HCG- Effective Method In Losing Weight
Are you looking for an effective method when it comes to losing weight? Then this article is the right one for you.
Before understanding HCG as an effective method when it comes to losing weight, you need to know and understand the correct definition of HCG and how this works for you in order for you to know as well as discover HCG as an effective method in losing excessive weight. What is HCG? This is also known as Human Chorionic Gonadotropin which is a kind of hormone that naturally occurs in woman’s body that helps in the growth and development of embryo in mother’s womb.
These are some of the important functions of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in human’s body:
· This kind of hormone is essential when it comes to the ovulation among women because it triggers the egg when a woman ovulates.
· This kind of hormone is also important when it comes to promoting ovulation among women.
· HCG is also considered very beneficial because it helps to fight different infertility problems as well as help to increase sperm count among men.
· HCG is not only beneficial among adult but it is also advantageous among young boys most particularly, the boys that have testicle problems.
· HCG can also helps in decreasing the possibility off different serious diseases such as coronary artery disease and cardiovascular disease.
· This kind of hormone also helps in increasing your body’s metabolism in order for you to burn the unwanted fats in your body. HCG is proven to be one of the most effective as well as best method when comes to burning excessive fats in the body in order to achieve the body you want in no time.
Does HCG weight loss really work? Many claimed that this is one off the most effective way when it comes to losing weight in fact, many doctors as well as medical professional suggest and recommend this kind of treatment when it comes to losing weight however, there are also some doctors who do not agree on HCG weight loss as a method when it comes to losing weight. If you decide and prefer to use this method in losing weight, it is better for you to ask consult and ask your doctors what are the advantages as well as the disadvantages of HCG weight loss before using this method in losing weight.
These are some of the advantages of HCG weight loss:
- According to Dr. Daniel Belluscio, this is one of the safest as well as the most effective methods in losing weight. This doctor also added that the side effects are very rare hence, this is safe to use.
- The result is fast compared to other methods when it comes to losing weight. You can actually see the result in less than a week, you can lose weight 1 to 3 pounds in each day.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The HCG Diet Food Guide
Phase I
For the first three days, you are loading up on HCG. You may eat what you want during these three days, but eating a well balanced diet in moderation is recommended.
Phase 2
After the third day of HCG, you are allowed to eat only 500 calories a day, split between two meals a day of lunch and dinner. Breakfast is just a liquid beverage with minimal to no calories.
Breakfast:
Any non-caloric fluids in any amount. This could be coffee without sugar (nonsugar sweeteners are okay) and a tablespoon of milk.
Lunch and Dinner
You are allowed these two meals only per day. Each should total around 250 calories each. Each consists of 3.5 oz (or 100 gm) of some type of protein food (see below), enough vegetables and fruit to total 250 calories each. You should record the foods you eat in a food journal and see how easy it is to keep track of your diet. The number of calories in a serving of these foods is listed below. Select from the following foods:
Protein Foods: 3.5 oz. (100 gm) per meal
All visible fat must be removed before cooking, and the portions should be weighed raw. An approximation of the size of a portion is the amount of the foot that would resemble the size of a makeup compact. It must be cooked without additional fat. Avoid eating the same protein foods for both lunch and dinner.
- Veal or ultra lean steak (free-range only). NO Ground beef no matter how lean.
- Fresh white fish (halibut, swordfish, bass, flounder, pike, tilapia, john dory, snapper, crab meat, lobster, shrimp, scallops. NO salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried, pickled or smoked fish.
- Chicken (chicken breast only, no skin)
- Boiled egg and 3 boiled egg whites (Adapted for vegetarians)
Fresh Vegetables: at least 3.5 oz (100 gm) per meal
Do not mix vegetables. One choice only per serving.
- Spinach, green salad, tomato, celery, fennel, onion, red radish, cucumber, asparagus, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, chard, chicory.
- NO starch or sugar heavy veggies, such as pumpkin, beetroot, potato, carrots, peas, or corn.
Fruit: 2 per day, at least 6 hours apart
- Apple, strawberries (6 lg/10 small), orange, ½ grapefruit.
- NO substitutes.
Grain
- One grissini, or
- One melba toast
Your daily caloric intake total per day should be 500. If your choices from the above list total is less than 500 calories, and it will, eat an additional portion of a vegetable and protein.
Fluids: Minimum 2 liters (11 glasses, 8 oz each) of water daily
- Plain Water
- Tea/coffee without sugar (any quantity)
- Soda water, mineral water
- 2 diet soft drinks (up to 2-12 oz. cans)
- Crystal Lite
- Only 1 tablespoon fat-free half and half or milk daily.
Extras:
- No margarine, butter, oil, or dressing.
- Check labels for content of sugar, fructose, sucrose, corn syrup, etc. Anything with these is NOT allowed. You may use artificial sweeteners sparingly and only for Phase 1 and 2. NO SUGAR!
- Salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard powder, garlic, sweet basil, parsley, thyme, marjoram, and other spices are freely available as seasonings.
- Juice of 1 lemon daily
Calorie Content of the HCG Diet Foods
There are many websites that give you calorie amounts of the foods you eat. A good website to determine calories in food is The Calorie Counter website (http://www.thecaloriecounter.com). If you can’t find the calories on the web, check the package for calculations whenever possible. Always remember to record what you eat in a food journal every day. Here are some examples of foods that you can eat on the HCG diet and their respective calorie amounts:
Fish:
- White Fish - (3.5 oz) avg 98 cal
- Cod (3.5 oz) - 83 cal
- Crab meat (3.5 oz) - 100 cal
- Flounder (3.5 oz) - 90 cal
- Haddock (3.5 oz) - 88 cal
- Halibut (3.5 oz) - 110 cal
- Lobster (3.5 oz) - 98 cal
- Red snapper (3.5 oz) - 110 cal
- Shrimp (3.5 oz) - 110 cal
- Tilapia (3.5 oz) - 94 cal
Beef:
- Very lean beef (3.5 oz) (avg 152 cal)
- Eye of round (3.5 oz) - 160 cal
- Top sirloin steak (3.5 oz) - 130 cal
- Top round steak (3.5 oz) - 166 cal
- Bottom round steak (3.5 oz) - 154 cal
Chicken:
- Chicken breast, no skin (3.5 oz) - 87 cal
Veal:
- Veal (3.5 oz) (avg 114 cal)
- Veal, sirloin (3.5 oz) - 110 cal
- Veal, loin chop (3.5 oz) - 117 cal
Vegetables:
- Asparagus (3.5 oz) - 20 cal
- Asparagus (2″ tip) - 1 cal
- Asparagus (small spear) - 2 cal
- Asparagus (medium spear) - 3 cal
- Asparagus (large spear) - 4 cal
- Broccoli (3.5 oz) - 34 cal
- Broccoli (1 cup - 88g) - 30 cal
- Broccoli (5″ spear - 31 g) - 11 cal
- Celery (3.5 oz) - 15 cal
- Celery (medium stalk) - 6 cal
- Cabbage (3.5 oz) - 24 cal
- Cabbage (1 cup shredded) - 17 cal
- Cauliflower (3.5 oz) - 22 cal
- Cauliflower (1 cup) - 28 cal
- Cauliflower (3 flowerets) - 12 cal)
- Cucumber (3.5 oz) - 12 cal
- Cucumber (small) - 19 cal
- Cucumber (medium) - 24 cal
- Cucumber (large) - 34 cal each
- Cucumber (English long) - 60 cal
- Lettuce, all varieties (3.5 oz) - 20 cal
- Lettuce, all varieties (1 cup) - 8 cal
- Lettuce, all varieties (small head) - 32 cal
- Red radishes (3.5 oz) - 12 cal
- Red radishes (one medium) - 1 cal
- Salad (3.5 oz) - 15 cal
- Spinach, raw (3.5 oz) - 20 cal
- Spinach, raw (1 cup) - 7 cal
- Spinach, frozen (3.5 oz) - 23 cal
- Spinach, frozen (1 cup) - 41 cal
- Spinach, cooked (3.5 oz) - 31 cal
- Spinach, cooked (1 cup) - 48 cal
- Tomato (3.5 oz) - 20 cal
- Tomato (cherry) - 3 cal
- Tomato (plumb) - 11 cal
- Tomato (small) - 16 cal
- Tomato (medium) - 22 cal
- Tomato (large) - 33 cal
Fruit
- Apple (small) - 55 cal
- Apple (medium) - 72 cal
- Apple (large) - 110 cal
- Orange (navel) - 69 cal
- Orange (Florida) - 65 cal
- Orange (California) - 59 cal
- 12 large strawberries - 72 cal
- 20 medium strawberries - 80 cal
- Pink Grapefruit (California) - 92 cal
- Pink Grapefruit (Florida) - 74 cal
- One breadstick (grissini) - 15 cal
- One Melba toast - 12 cal
Phase 3: Maintenance
After you have used HCG with a very low calorie diet for 40 days, you must discontinue the HCG. You may first notice that your stomach has shrunk and that you continue to want to do the low calorie diet for a few more days to weeks.
For the first few weeks after stopping HCG, all foods are allowed except starches and sugars, always controlled by morning weighing. In other words, if you start eating too much food you will see it on the scales. If this happens, cut back immediately to your body’s daily resting needs, otherwise called your BMR (basal metabolic rate).
For the second three weeks, gradually add starches and sugars in small quantities to your diet. Once again, you should control the amounts by daily morning weighing and correction of the excesses immediately. Don’t let yourself go and give up on all the hard work you have done to get to weight loss success. Keep motivated.
At the end of the 6 weeks after stopping HCG, you may do another round of HCG if you want to continue to lose more weight. HCG should only be used for 40 days because your body develops an immunity to it and its effectiveness is minimal after 40 continuous days. However, after a maintenance “resting” phase of six weeks, this immunity has gone and you may do the HCG effectively again for another 40 days. This cycle may be continued as many times as needed to help you lose the weight you desire.
Phase 4: Lifetime Eating, Exercising and Staying Healthy\
After you have lost all the weight you desire, gradually introduce more foods into your diet.
Monday, October 12, 2009
More HCG Weight Loss Information
The hormone which is the basis of the HCG weight loss program is safe for use for both men and women. If you have decided to use this method to help you lose weight then it is recommended that you first seek medical advice. This helps determine if there are medical or other conditions that might interfere with the hormone to bring success in weight loss. It is important to include nutritious diet in your weight loss plan. Eat healthy carbohydrates in when using HCG weight loss plan. A good idea is to enjoy small portions through out the day. It helps keep your energy up and reduces your intake of calories.
Fresh, natural vegetables and fruits are an important part of a weight loss plan. These are useful as they contain useful nutrients which cleanse and detoxify the body. They are a good source of fiber which helps in adding bulk to your diet. This helps in digestion and bowel movement. This process is important in removing wastes and toxins from the body when losing weight.
Along side using HCG weight loss diet it is advisable to take clean and fresh water regularly. Do this through out the day. It helps you feel fuller thus reducing your appetite for food. Water is an excellent detoxifier and body cleanser. It plays an important part during digestion and distribution of nutrients.
Proteins help in building muscles which are useful in burning excess calories naturally. Some of the foods you can take from this group include fish, chicken, eggs and plant proteins in your weight loss menu. They are useful in keeping your stomach feel fuller for longer. In this way your appetite is suppressed and you eat less frequently. For you to benefit from HCG weight loss plan it is advisable to change habits that bring about and contribute to weight gain. Some advisable practices include serving small portions during meal times. Avoid junk and unhealthy snacks. Stop overeating or using food as a source of comfort. In this way you feed your body with fewer calories. It also helps in efficient digestion where excess calories are removed as wastes.